Tooth Update!

Wednesday night, the swelling on Jenelle's abscess tooth got worse. Poor thing looked like Marlon Brando in the Godfather. She was also constantly biting down with her teeth making a clicking noise. That concerned me enough to page the dentist. On hearing her symptoms, he told me to get her in Thursday morning rather than wait the weekend. Jenelle was recently on an anti-biotic for an ear infection two weeks ago, so he was concerned that it could be masking her symptoms somewhat.

The dentist got good x-rays (without sedation) and found that the abscess and/or infection was gone. She is definitely getting her 6 year molars, and is very swollen around the area where her new molar is trying to come in. That is because the tooth hasn't broken through the gum yet. Dr. Brostoff said this type of swelling was normal for a child like Jenelle and that it looked like the anti-biotics were doing their job. Unfortunately, because Jenelle doesn't chew, it could take a while to break through and needs to be watched closely (i.e. it is possible she may need more than one round of anti-biotics). The great news is no additional appointments or surgery are needed for now - YAY! Unfortunately, we may have to go through this again 3 more times for the other 3 molars that have yet to surface. Not fun!

Even though I admitted to brushing Jenelle's teeth less frequently, the dentist thought they looked very good and that I was doing a good job given her limitations. This in part because Jenelle doesn't eat candy. He plans to see her every 6 months to make sure all is well. He also said that Jenelle is probably a year away from losing her baby teeth from what he saw on the x-ray. This is good news as well.

Thanks for keeping us in your positive thoughts and prayers. I'll keep you posted.