A Bump in the Park

Jonathan took Corinna, Isaac, and Melissa to the park on Saturday so I could rehearse with my quartet for the Christmas program.  When they got home Corinna's face was covered in dried blood and her blonde hair was brown with dirt and bark.

What happened!?

"Corinna kept taking her shoes off and asking me to put them back on," explained Jonathan.  "Except about half the time I wasn't doing it right according to her, so she'd squirm away and try to put them on herself.  The last time she squirmed out of my hands and I couldn't catch her before she face planted on the cement.  She bloodied her nose, but otherwise seems okay."  Meanwhile Corinna munched on some chicken nuggets.  "Oh, and Isaac kept dumping bark on her head, so she'll need a bath again today."

Later, in the tub, the bathwater turned brown and silty so I drained the water and started the bath again.  Her scalp was black with dirt.  Two washes and two rinses later she was much cleaner.

After the bath, I pulled her shirt over her head, she started crying and blood poured from her mouth.  Horrified, I saw a gap in her mouth where her tooth wasn't!  Apparently she knocked her tooth very loose at the park and it was just dangling by threads until it came out completely.  I swept my finger in her mouth and couldn't find the tooth, so I grabbed a wet wash cloth for her to chew on and stop the flow of blood.  She was very distressed, partially from the pain, but also in part from the sight of blood, I think.  She settled down when she got a washcloth tied off with crushed ice inside.  Poor Bubbles!

Upstairs I found her tooth lying next to the bed where I was trying to dress her earlier, tooth, root and all.  I stuck it in milk and proceeded to make numerous phone calls trying to reach a pediatric dentist on a Saturday.  Good luck on a weekend!  Each emergency number from the various dentists' offices would only lead to a completely different dental practice until I was back to the beginning office again.

Finally our regular family dentist called me back after getting in touch with a pediatric dentist.  Apparently dentists don't replant primary teeth because there is a possibility that the tooth root will grow into the bone of the jaw, or that in the process  of replanting the tooth, the permanent teeth will be damaged.

So this is Baby's Bubbles smile for the next 4 to 5 years:

The gum is healing over but still tender and prone to bleeding if bumped or irritated in any way.  Corinna hasn't slowed down in the slightest and still runs, climbs, and wrestles with her brother, much to my consternation.  I'm still concerned that her other front tooth may be loose.  Or that she may knock that tooth out too since she has a slight overbite and her tooth pokes out a bit.  Oh child!