Oral Surgery

Austin and Bryson were both born with extra baby and permanent front teeth. Bryson had 1 extra front baby tooth but 2 extra permanent teeth that were fighting for space in his gums so no permanent teeth were wearing down the roots of his baby teeth. As a 10-year-old, he still had not lost any top teeth. Austin had an extra front baby tooth and one extra front permanent tooth. He lost his extra baby tooth right before his 6th birthday when he slipped in the bathtub and banged his mouth against the edge of the bathtub. (It was traumatic!)

The day of the surgery was scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 14th. The boys were a little apprehensive about the oral surgery but were comforted by the fact that they would be doing it together. I was a nervous wreck but had to keep that hidden from them. Austin went first and Bryson sat with me in the waiting room. They were not allowed to eat breakfast or drink any water, which was probably the worst part for Bryson sitting there waiting for his turn. I was surprised that Austin's surgery was so fast. It felt like 20 minutes after he left my side that a nurse was coming back to get me. I was so relieved when she told me everything went well that I couldn't stop the tears that slid out. Matt met us there so he could take Austin home. Austin was quite lucid and called me on the way home to tell me he was alright; he also told Bryson not to worry, that it didn't hurt. Then Bryson went back for his turn. When they wheeled Bryson out to meet me at my car, he was so cold. We turned the heat up full blast. Matt bought the boys a large Smoothie King to split and got the boys settled on the couch with a movie (Elf) before he left for work.

Before surgery

After

Showing off their teeth

Bryson had a total of 7 teeth pulled (5 baby and 2 permanent). The roots of his baby teeth were all very long, so they were not coming out on their own any time soon. The two surgeries were performed differently. Bryson's gums were flayed open after the baby teeth were extracted to pull out the extra permanent teeth. For Austin, they cut high in his gums, using an x-ray for guidance, to extract his permanent tooth. Even though Austin's seemed simpler, his healing process was slower. His mouth was puffy and swollen for the next 3 days. Bryson bled a lot the first day, constantly changing out bloody gauze, but his healing was much faster. He looked normal the next day, and you wouldn't have known something had changed until he smiled! They drank their smoothies and ate ramen noodles for lunch--lukewarm. They were starving! The day of surgery and the next day, they couldn't brush their teeth and rinsed with a special oral rinse to try to prevent infection with the stitches. The first night after surgery was rough for Austin who woke needing medicine, but Bryson slept fine through the night. Both of the boys bounced back pretty fast after the surgery. Bryson felt well enough to go to school the next day, but I was worried he would need medicine and be in pain in the middle of the day. Austin still looked so swollen that it was no question he would stay home. Friday was a half day of school. Bryson could have easily gone, but opted to stay home, which I was fine with. The stitches started falling out on their own about 5 days after surgery. A week later, you wouldn't know that Austin had any sort of surgery since he kept all his baby teeth. Bryson looks a little like a vampire with no front teeth except for the fangs of his canines. He mostly just smiles with his mouth closed now, and he has a slight lisp when he talks. We are hoping teeth will grow in soon; it could be months even up to a year for all the teeth to come in. He's handling it really well, and hopefully the kids will be compassionate and kind at school.