In this pocket you will find
A teensy, tiny tooth of mine.
So while I sleep where dreams are made,
Let’s see if you can make a trade.  ~Author Unknown

Kyle’s 1st day of the 6th grade. What a nice smile buddy! 9/2012

Ever since Kyle was in the third grade, or there about he has been obsessed with loosing his baby teeth.  He, like the rest of my family is a Late Bloomer.  Personally I don’t think it’s a bad thing, always priding myself on it, it’s just the way it is.

In fact, I’ve told Kyle, he is lucky to loose his teeth later on in life, but he never wants to hear it.  Especially, since it’s like pulling teeth to get him to brush his, pun intended.

On a side note, it took us years of bribing the kid and reminding him to brush his teeth, when he wasn’t with us, to do so.  Seriously, years.  Sometimes I would swear he didn’t brush his teeth all week, they were so caked with crud I was grossed out and couldn’t understand how he even tasted his food.  To this day, he still has an issue with waking up and brushing his stinky breath, a habit that needs to be reinforced every day and inspected, a battle I refuse to give in to.  If he doesn’t know he’s missing areas of tarter, then how can he correct it if it’s not pointed out?  Leave it to me, I have no qualms with making him stand there and revisit questionable areas.  Anything to keep his teeth as healthy as possible.  I don’t budge on this issue.

Hygiene is not an concern with Kyle.  His only concern is with the number of baby teeth left.  You see according to his friends, he is the only one with remaining baby teeth.  I get it, he’s in the seventh grade, but he doesn’t realize he’s very young for his class and put on top of that, he’s a Piper, all makes for a totally immature individual. (maybe I should lighten up on other acts of immaturity)

Granted, he wasn’t always like this.  O no, at first, when I finally plucked out his first tooth, and yes, I yanked the darn thing out, Kyle was excited about the space between his teeth.  Not to mention he loved the promise of the tooth fairy, which made the ordeal worth while, and of course the money that generally accompanies a baby tooth, all combined made for one happy toothless kid.

Although times have changed.  A few weekends ago, as I was picking up my little man off of the bus, he sat proudly in the passenger seat and showed off another missing tooth.  He wasn’t excited over having a hole where a tooth should be residing.  O no!  He was elated for knowing he had one less baby tooth, but then obsessed over the hole and when the other tooth will take its place.  And so goes the vicious cycle.

Recently, it seems like Kyle is knocking down the count.  Last weekend Kyle showed me a tooth that was barely hanging on.  He has real issues with causing pain or seeing blood or the possibilities of either.  Nope, instead he played with that baby molar, with his tongue, until it popped out.  While working at my desk, Kyle hands me something.  It was his tooth!  I was so excited for him!  I said, “Wow buddy they’re coming out in full force now!”  He gave me the biggest grin and then informed me of the final count of those still standing.  Unfortunately, I can’t remember the count but the numbers are dwindling.

Whenever the conversation of baby teeth comes up, Kyle comforts himself with the knowledge that his Gigi, my mom, lost her last baby tooth when she was in her early twenties, while working at Kennametal.  It’s true, the dentist had to sedate her to yank it out.  Mom’s a big baby too!  Kyle loves rehashing that tale like he was there.

Nicole, Ryan and me all took a long time to loose our baby teeth too.  In fact, I remember pulling out the few popular front teeth, but as for the rest, I have no idea when they made their grand exit.  To be honest, I forgot all about them by the time I too got to the junior high.  The posterior teeth were probably consumed with a meal, giving added crunch.  I never cared about my baby teeth, at least not after I found out the tooth fairy was mom and the money dried up.

What cracks me up, soon this will be all over and totally forgotten about by Kyle.  But until then, it is a focus of his, in addition to his video games.  He needs to learn to accept the fact that he is a Piper, which is synonymous with late bloomer, but he is still having a hard time dealing with the baby teeth situation.  I don’t want Kyle to rush growing up.

Enjoy life as it comes buddy!

Every day may not be good, but there’s something good in every day.  ~Author Unknown

Kyle took a pic of himself on photobooth. Missing tooth shot.

Children definitely see the world differently.  Sometimes I find Kyle seeing it as I once had, but have forgotten.  The other day Kyle and I were eating popcorn and watching TV.  He turned to me very casually and said, “Aunt Heather, I love popcorn, but I don’t like getting it stuck in my teeth.  Well, actually I sort of like getting it stuck in my teeth cause I like the feeling when I get it out.  It feels good.”  What a profound statement!  He was taking a negative and looked for the good in the situation.

Laughing at this statement, I said, “Really?”  He went on to describe how parts of the popcorn get stuck between his teeth and down into his gums.  He said, “It kind of hurts my teeth when I have popcorn stuck between them.”  He then began to make a reference between popcorn and corn-on-the-cob.

I took this as my opportunity to review proper dental hygiene.  I told him how it’s not good to get food caught between your teeth, especially your gums.  The food will start to rot and can cause not only decay between the teeth but also infection when the food is stuck in the gums.

Kyle knows how I am a bit of a radical with brushing and flossing my teeth.  Yes, I will admit I have toothpaste and a toothbrush in my desk at work.  I have been busted walking to the bathroom brushing my teeth after lunch.  In fact, I love going to the dentist twice a year to get my teeth cleaned.  To me, it’s like a spa day.  I never miss my appointments and I look forward to them.  I’ve even been known to take a half day off of work so I can sit and relax.  Once my dentist says the words he has reiterated over the years, ‘As always, good job Heather, teeth and gums are perfect’ I walk out of there with a smile on my face.  To me, having my teeth scrapped, buffed and polished makes me feel so clean and fresh and I just want to show off my pearly whites.  It’s like spring cleaning, you can’t explain it but it puts you in a good mood, gives you energy and makes the day more enjoyable.  Also, like spring cleaning, once the job is done you sit back and smile, not wanting to dirty anything.

Me & Kyle at Idlewild

Ever since Kyle’s teeth started to come in, I have reinforced the habits of good dental hygiene.  I have yet to get him to floss his own teeth, at least not regularly, not yet.  I think I’ve mentioned it before that Kyle likes to lay his head in my lap and have me floss his teeth.  We’ve been doing this since he only had baby teeth.  I always wanted to instill a good sense of habit, even at a young age.  Anyway, I kind of enjoy poking around in there.  This also gives me the opportunity to examine his teeth, after all you are only given one set of adult teeth.  From the looks of it, Kyle’s upper and lower anterior teeth are coming in perfectly straight, which I’m so happy about.  However, he still has a couple anterior teeth to loose, not to mention his posterior teeth, which could change the entire layout.  Plus there’s the question of his wisdom teeth.  I heard that most people are not even developing them anymore.  I myself had all four wisdom teeth, two being impacted, which was not a fun experience, removed.  It seems as though Kyle is set on a course for a perfect smile, not unlike his smile currently.

Now you may be asking why I am such a nut over teeth.  I actually started my career out in dental hygiene.  I worked as a dental assistant for a little over a year.  My goal was to go to school for dental hygiene and marketing.  I wanted to be able to go to elementary schools to teach children about proper dental care.  Well, things took a turn and eventually I completed my marketing degree, receiving a bachelors of arts and then shortly after completed my bachelors of fine arts in graphic design.

I still exemplify my love of teeth through my daily habits.  I’m glad this is something I have instilled in Kyle.  A good habit to practice!  A smile is always the easiest way to turn a negative into a positive.