In loving memory of two front teeth

The day after Lovisa's 4th birthday, she went to playschool. She usually doesn't go Fridays, but she really wanted to bring a cake to playschool to celebrate her birthday. At about 9.30, one of her teachers called and told me that Lovisa had had an accident and hit her mouth. They said that she had a fat lip and that they couldn't really tell whether or not she had hit her teeth. I called the dentist and they said that we could come, but that we didn't need to get there right away. So after talking to Lovisa, who by that time was happy again and really wanted to stay and have her cake, I decided to take her to the dentist and have her teeth checked out in the afternoon instead.

When I came to pick her up, I immediately noticed that her two front teeth were pushed in. I hurried to the dentist, crying, feeling so guilty for not having taken her immediately. The poor thing! The dentist tried to comfort me, saying that they see these things all the time, and that they usually don't have to do anything about it. She told me that they were going to do an x-ray of her teeth and that we would probably be able to go home and wait for a few days, to see how the teeth would react. But as they tried to get her to bite down on the exray thing, they realized that she couldn't get her bottom jaw behind the front teeth. That's how far they were pushed in. The dentist then consulted a collegue who determined that there was nothing they could do. The teeth had to go.

I had to go behind the chair so that Lovisa couldn't see me cry. I asked if it would have made any difference if I had brought her in sooner, but she told me that it absolutely wouldn't. That comforted me a little bit.

Lovisa got some kind of medicin that made her really tired. They said that it would help her forget the pain and discomfort of having the teeth pulled out. After that they numbed her gums and then pulled the teeth out. Just like that. I had to sit and hold her hand and smile and tell her what a brave girl she was being while all along I was having to try really hard not to burst into tears again. It was so awful to see her scream and cry like that.

She got to keep the teeth in a red little container. She was so proud of them. Then she got to pick out a toy from the box. She picked out three rings. I told her how proud I was of her and how big she looked now that she had lost her front teeth.

As it turns out, Lovisa has handled the whole thing extremely well. The only thing that upset her was that we had to postpone her princess party two weeks, until she can eat normal food again. But this Saturday the two weeks are up and she is finally having the party!

I, on the other hand, was pretty traumatized by it and have really been grieving those pretty front teeth. It may seem silly, since they were baby teeth but the thing is that Lovisa got her teeth really late, at 18 months, so she only got to have them for 2½ years and will probably be without for a few years. Good thing she looks just as cute without them! Like a lion cub, is what we tell her.

Before...

...and after.