A chip off the old _ _ _ _ _.

T-O-O-T-H.

Front tooth.  Permanent Front tooth. Oh the joys of raising boys.

So here's a time line of the event with photographic evidence.

1:30 p.m. (receive incoming call from high school)

Me: Hello?

Elder Son:  Um, hey, mom, you need to come check me out.

Me: Why? Is something wrong? Are you sick? Did you get in trouble?

Elder Son: I broke my tooth.  My front tooth. And you need to come check me out.

Me:  What do you mean you broke your tooth? How in the world did you break your tooth? Does it hurt?

Elder Son:  (lets out a deep breath) Can you just come check me out, they said you need to come check me out.

Me:  Sure I can come check you out.  Were you playing basketball at PE or something and that's how it broke?

Elder Son:  I chipped it in English Class.

Me:  In English Class?  What in the world were you doing in English class that might chip a tooth?

Elder Son: we were playing this game called "pitch" and I sit up front and anyway I hit it on my desk. And when it hit the desk, it hit the slanted angle side and I felt it bend and then I saw two white chips of my tooth laying there.

Me: Oh my, you were horseplaying right? What do we do in English class? Do we horseplay in any classroom?  Oh my, Elder Son, that's a permanent tooth, your FRONT tooth.  I'll be there in a few minutes.

Click.  Thinking to myself....(how strange...chipping your front tooth in English Class...the very same classroom I sat in for English back in the day, except you can rest assured I did not horseplay in Mrs. Renfroe's room...ever.)

2:00 p.m. -- I arrive at school to find Elder Son waiting in the chairs at the front office. With a chipped, front, permanent tooth.  And some chapped lips that seemed to be screaming for carmex. :)

2:30 p.m. -- We call our dentist, Dr. L. He says come on down and we'll see how much money he can make off of us to help pay for a new boat damage is done. 

4:00 p.m. -- Dr. L suggests we just do a filling type fix for now, as Elder Son's maxillary bone (like all his other bones) is still growing.  If we were to do a more expensive extensive, permanent procedure (root canal with crown) it would just have to be repeated 3 or 4 more times before he turns 18 years old.  Hello Bank Loan.

After checking the x-rays, he says it looks as though the nerve is okay and proceeds to go forth with plan A....a less expensive, but "this is my firstborn, he can't have a chipped up smile" mother approved treatment by filling in the tooth in question.

And it took all of 18 minutes.....voila'.....restored tooth, pretty smile, happy mama.  (sorry for the blurry photo it was taken with my phone).

Dr. L reminded Elder Son on SEVERAL occassions during the course of treatment that this filling is not a permanent fix.  In fact, it is rather delicate and he must be careful with it.  No eating hard candy with his front teeth, as a peppermint would break it if he bit into it. No using his teeth to tear open a potato chip bag, no cutting fishing line with his teeth, etc.etc.etc.

And after each mini-lecture, he would stop working and turn to me and say, "but mom, if it does happen, don't fuss at him because this is really easy to break, and it's no big deal, just bring him back down here and we'll paint it back on again."

In my mind, I'm thinking....don't fuss at him. Don't fuss at him.  Now, I'm getting parenting sessions thrown in for free with the dental work. Nice.

4:30 p.m. -- Dr. L also mentioned that the big thing to worry about now is just to wait and see if the tooth turns black and is dead, or if Elder Son begins to have any pain with it, as either of these would be reason for us to come back down immediately to let him be seen by an endodontist for further work. Endodontist is just a fancy name for someone who wants you to pay for their beach condo.

Bedtime thru 7:30 a.m. following morning -- So we wait.  We make it through the night fine.  Elder Son wakes up the next morning, still no pain. He goes about his day at school.

3:00 p.m. -- I pick him up as usual at the end of the school day. 

(Can I just stop right here and remind the reader that it has been less than 24 hours since he had his tooth fixed)

He hops in the passenger side and smiles at me.  I smile back. He says "it's really hard to remember not to do stuff because that tooth is so easy to break".....I say "yea, I guess it will take some getting used to....awwwww, Elder Son....you broke it today didn't you?"  I immediately notice his tooth is no longer all nice and fixed like Dr. L managed to make it the previous afternoon. 

He then proceeds to tell me that he was playing basketball and a friend, who is a girl, accidentally hit him in the mouth when going for the ball.  It chipped a little corner off the filling.

Nothing like the big chunk he knocked off during the reading of Hamlet, but still. Seriousy, I know y'all probably can't even see it from the photo, but I promise it's chipped again.

And guess what?  It's going to stay that way.  At least for a while. Oh, I didn't fuss.  I may have told him he'd have to save his lawn mowing money this summer to pay for a new tooth to start 9th grade with in August, but I didn't fuss.

And if it breaks off even worse, maybe I'll just forego the dental visits all together and instead get him a hat that says "Git-R-Done".....