Another Metal Mouth

A recipe for disaster is a kid with Cerebral Palsy, school bus steps, and a very icy sidewalk. That is exactly what we had going on almost seven years ago when Lauren fell on her face while getting off the bus at school.

The phone rang that morning just as I had gotten out of the shower. When I answered it there was my kid screaming and a teacher who said "you need to come now", that was it. Usually teachers are not at a loss for words but that is all she could say so I knew that something was very wrong. Our emergency plan went into action. I had two foster kids here at the time so I got shoes and winter garb on them, called Dad, got myself dressed, and was out the door faster then I could have imagined possible.

When I reached the school they met me at the door with a kid covered in blood, a towel covering her lower face. The most freaky thing was when one of the teachers handed me a paper cup filled with ice water and Lauren`s teeth floating on top. I gave the dentist mane to the school nurse who called them and we were on the road. When we got to the office there was no waiting around they scooped her up, took the cup with the teeth, and went to work re implanting those two front teeth back in the mouth where they belonged.

At the time we were told there were no guarantees that those teeth were going to survive, but if they did we would need to take her to surgery seventy-two hours later. Lauren headed to the operating room three days later for major repairs on those teeth. Those teeth have lasted far longer then anyone could ever have thought possible. That is because everyone was in the right place at the right time and knew what needed to be done and did it. The whole event took less then an hour to unfold. She was left with a very bruised face and two front teeth that were going to need a lot of care, but she would be okay. That is when I breathed a huge sigh of relief, and thanked God for getting us through a very scary ordeal.

Now those teeth are giving out and will need to be removed soon so while that is being done we will have orthodontic work done to straighten out her narrow over crowded mouth. The good thing here is that they will not be removing healthy teeth to make room for her other teeth, the two that need to come out anyway will be the causalities. We knew that braces would benefit her but just let that go since she has so many other medical issues to deal with all of the time, but I guess now it is time to fix this mess too. She will look gorgeous when it is all over with so it will be worth the effort. Looking on the bright side of this is that since the same team that is working with Hanna will be doing the work here I can coordinate the appointments and will have fewer trips to make as a result. Two metal mouths at one time, I am not sure I can handle all of this fun.