Bye Bye Little Abscessed Tooth

A few years ago, before Gabriela was on the way, Nyssa and Nathaniel were playing in the family room while Benjamin was taking a nap.  of course I had warned them once already to stop running around, but as children do, they soon returned to their hyper antics.  Nathaniel ended up pushing Nyssa.

This action in and of itself was of no great concern;  they have always enjoyed roughhousing.  But the direction in which she was pushed combined with the force, multiplied by the fact that they were right next to a coffee table, quickly changed the seriousness of the situation.  Nyssa landed face first into the corner of the square oak coffee table.  For a few moments, I think my heart stopped beating and all of my thoracic organs dropped 3 inches.  Nyssa lifted her head and I saw the blood flowing from her mouth.

At the immediate care center, we discovered that she had not only bitten the table, but she had ripped the frenulum in her mouth.  We also learned that the frenulum which tore is the piece of skin in the middle of the upper lip connected to the gums.  We were strongly advised to take her to the pediatric dentist for care, which we did after leaving the urgent care.

The dentist told me that the impact shoved her tooth a little off course.  It appeared to be okay other than that, although it may get infected at some future point.  Until then, she would be fine.  It could be a month or it could be a couple of years.

Four years later, she got an abscessed tooth, the one which had initially been injured.  Nyssa was placed on amoxocillin for a few days to help with the infection and was scheduled to have the tooth wiggled.  So here we sat this morning, at the dentist's office after a week of antibiotics.  From her complaining over the week, I guessed that the one next to it was getting infected too, so I asked about it.  Sure enough, the infection had spread.  Thankfully, her grown up teeth had already begun pushing on these baby teeth.  It was a simple procedure to wiggle the teeth loose while she was under nitrous oxide, otherwise known as laughing gas.

Though it was no laughing matter, Nyssa was bubbly at the expectation of getting 2 surprises under her pillow tonight rather than just one.  She chose to see the positive side of the matter.  Since she trusted myself and her doctor, everything did, indeed, turn out just fine, with no worry on her part.

Sometimes a situation may affect us.  Initially we feel the pain, but the outward injuries heal quickly.  We have no understanding that we may have received even deeper wounding, invisible to the casual observer.  We live our lives for months or possibly hears with seemingly no ill-effect.  But the poison of the impact slowly works its way until, eventually, it is right there on the surface, like a big sore spot filled with stinky, infectious ooze.

It has to be treated so it does not extend further to poison more of our life.  The root of the problem has to be removed or it will just return to fester and spread more damage.  If we trust the One who is able to remove the source of the problem, we will heal quickly and never have to worry about that old injury again.  We may have to chew softly for a day or so, but soon we will be restored to full health...and we won't ever have to worry about the pain sprouting in and out ever again.  If only we can all trust the great physician in the way that Nyssa trusted her dentist today.  We wouldn't be so afraid to say goodbye to the hurt.