Wednesday, February 25, 2009

To Answer Your Question

Everyone has been asking why we can't just wait for Nate's tooth to fall out. Why does he have to get it pulled or have a root canal?

Good question! It's not currently infected, but it's still dying, so it could get infected. And it's only going to look worse with time. If the tooth does get infected we wouldn't know it until an abscess appears on his upper gum (or he could have x-rays done every 3 months and I don't think any of us want to go through that again). When an infection gets to that point it can damage the permanent tooth, meaning he could have a permanent stain (discolored spot) on his adult tooth for life! Since Nate's insurance 100% covers either procedure, there is no reason to risk damaging his permanent tooth.

I DEFINITELY think he's got to have something done because Christian had a similar situation when he was almost two. We let the tooth go. He got an abscess. The pediatrician thought it was some sort of cold sore. We continued to let it go and he ended up with a horrible infection up around his permanent tooth. He got the baby tooth pulled and we have to wait until he's seven or eight to find out if the permanent tooth is damaged.

Hope that answers everyone's question! And remember, I'm not an expert, just passing along what I was told :)

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