It is the third time my kids reach the age when they start to lose their baby teeth and it always surprises me that although they look really funny without the missing teeth, until the new ones grow and take over, they are pretty happy with it.
My daughter Noff is 8 years old. Yes, this is late, but about 6 months ago, she started growing “Shark teeth” behind her lower front teeth. The orthodontist suggested pulling the baby teeth out and creating space for the “Shark teeth” to position themselves in the right place over time. So we scheduled a time to pull Noff’s baby teeth out and she was brave and managed the injections very well. When her lips went numb and she could not feel them, that scared her a bit, but other than that, everything was great.
Sure enough, over the next 3 weeks, as if by magic, the new teeth gradually came to the front until they looked great. All this time, Noff was pretty happy and jolly.
This week, we went to see the orthodontist again after another tooth emerged behind the baby teeth. This time, he suggested taking out two of her baby teeth to allow space for the new teeth to position themselves in the right place.
The night before, Noff wrote on the white board, “Yippy, I am going to the dentist! I am soooooo happy”. When I dropped her off at school, she said, “Mom, I can’t wait for you to come and pick me up to go to the dentist”.
When she sat in the dentist’s chair this afternoon, she told the assistant, “I will get $20 from the Tooth Fairy” and 20 minutes after we came home, she went across the street to play with her friend.
For that whole evening, Noff looked at herself in the mirror with pride (looking ever so funny to us). At night, we sneaked to her room and put $20 under her pillow.
The following morning, the first time I saw Noff, she had a big smile on her face, showing off her “no teeth”. She was so happy with herself. I was surprised, maybe because I did not remember myself at her age, doing my best to pull out a baby tooth without fear of looking funny.
That evening, I told Gal, “Isn’t it wonderful that little kids are so happy when about losing their teeth even though they look funny? I’m sure it’s thanks to the Tooth Fairy!”
Happy parenting,
Ronit
