Yes, Miss Isa, There are Genetic Abnormalities...

Isa kept complaining of an ouchie in her mouth. Sunday morning, she even demanded a bandaid for the inside of her mouth. I had to tell her "no" through my laughter.

I assumed that she bit her cheek or something. Never assume. We all know what that means.

Sunday night, Jose was going to poke her in the mouth and tease her about the gap in her teeth and when he went to do so, noticed that there was something protruding from the top of her mouth right behind her two front teeth.
That's right ladies and gentlemen, that there is a tooth.

So, first thing Monday morning, we call the dentist. The lady never asks questions about why I want my daughter seen, but sets up an appoingment for 10:40 AM. We go. The dental hygenist was nice and quirky. When explaining the tooth, she shrugged it off saying that it happened all the time that kids' permanent teeth fail to push out the baby teeth. Usually, it's on the bottom, she said. Usually, the kid is a couple years older, she stated. Then she saw the tooth. Oh, boy, was she intrigued. Doesn't look like a permanent tooth, she said. She discussed the statistical analysis of the possibilities. She prepped for an x-ray. Isa just sat there, calm as a cucumber, listening to the chatter and piping in when necessary.

As I predicted, the x-ray showed five teeth: two permanent teeth still embedded, two baby teeth, and an extra. (Turn your head or the computer screen sideways to properly view the x-ray.) The dentist came in and referred us to a pediatric dentist who specializes in kid's teeth and procedures on kids.

I called and explained the situation. They managed to squeeze us in a couple hours after the phone call at 1:30 PM. I dropped off Jose and Isa at the dentist (because we were running late, as always), then I ran Teo to the babysitter's house, and returned to the dentist. Jose was glad when I arrived because he didn't know how to fill out half of the paperwork. Ha!

Shortly after I got there, they took Isa back to take a look and we finished up paperwork. Then, they called us back to show us x-rays and what they planned to do. Isa was cool as an freezer on a hot day. They said that we could return to the waiting room while they did the procedure and they'd let us know when she'd be ready. She could care less if we stayed or if we went. She seriously had no fear about what was going on.

About twenty minutes later, they called us back again to pay the half up front and to get our daughter. She was a little loopy from the laughing gas and her upper mouth was super numb, causing her top lip to stick way out (like the reverse of a pout). They gave us the tooth in this tiny purple treasure chest and we were on our way.


To me, the tooth looked huge! She looked a little rough, but when I asked her if she wanted to run around with us or if she wanted to go to the babysitter's, she opted to go with Cindy, so we dropped her off. Drugged. Numbed. And missing a tooth that most people never have. :)


The dentist said to just watch it. Kids don't get dry socket, he said, so nothing to be too concerned about.

Now, some interesting facts for you all:

  • The extra tooth that Isa had is called a Mesioden. 

  • The disease of having extra teeth is called Hyperdontia and is genetic. When I was in second grade, I had to have my two front teeth removed as well as a mesioden and was toothless for well over a year. My mom also confirmed that she too had an extra tooth.

  • Approximately 2% of the population has at least one extra tooth.

  • The occurrance of extra teeth is more prevelant in males than females.
So...there's something for you to chew on....



(Haha! I crack myself up!)

1 comment:

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