Am I losing sight of the forest for the trees?

The xray showed that the top teeth seem to have stagnated, in that the decay seems to have stopped but the lower teeth seem to have gotten worse but the dentist was not sure as the xray angle was slightly different than the last time. L was also complaining of stomach ache so the dentist thought that perhaps the headache and stomach ache were a related non-tooth issue. Well the stomach ache continued and I began to worry about appendicitis so off we went the next day to the ped. Turns out he had a virus which causes head, stomach and body ache. He stopped complaining about his teeth so he flew to Norway yesterday .. we are not sure if the teeth are still bothering him or not … but other than sedation and drilling, no way to tell. A and I both decided against an emergency sedation drilling the day before he was due to fly to Norway. Issue is now if he starts having pain in Norway, we have to fly back or have his teeth drilled or pulled there ..

Last night as I ate dinner alone, for the first time since this crazy tooth drama started, I felt no pressure about grain free bullshit … I ate my sweet potato and squash and hummus quietly .. it was amazing not having to get L to eat grain free food .... to not have the struggle ... to be able to eat in peace and quiet ....

and I have been wondering if I am doing this all wrong .. the amount of pressure I have put on us all to follow L’s diet (A does not and will not so L sees A eating GF bagels and cries for it) … I am beginning to feel it is not worth it .. I have to fight L and A to keep him on the diet … I am tired of fighting alone ..

I am sad that I have to say no to him so much and I have to push his bone broth smoothie on him so much …

For today, I am leaning towards throwing the towel in, stopping it all, scheduling the sedation and going for it all, root canals, caps and everything …

I don’t want to fight anymore …

I am not sure if I am creating behavioural issues in L with the frustration he feels when he is denied pizza and bread ...

In the grand scheme of things, is this worth it? His childhood is so short and so precious .... What am I doing?

I would curl into a ball and cry, but crying is a waste of time and energy ... 

Here is the xray from last week:

Here is the xray from March:

A made an animation gif that compares the two xrays. you can see the angle is slightly different between the two xrays.

Appointment with the dentist

This is about 2 months earlier than scheduled. However, he is complaining of headache and is pointing bilaterally to his TMJ area - which feels like the area that would be impacted by the new teeth coming in .. but I cant stand the thought that it could be from the decayed premolar. My lovely dentist gave me an appointment today so we will go to have him take a look at L's teeth and perhaps take an xray ...

First permanent tooth is in ... and is the premolar getting worse or better .. how can I not know?????

Right on schedule, 1.5 years early ....

I was flossing this teeth this am, we were late as usual.... and I with my usual insistence on his tooth routine, insisted that we make time to floss .. when lo and behold, I saw these little tips staring back at me ...

HIS FIRST PERMANENT TEETH ARE COMING UP ....

If you feel my caps locks are screaming at you, you are RIGHT ... I COULD NOT BE SCREAMING THAT LOUDER ...

DAMMIT ...

I have to be even more careful with the permanent teeth than I am with his baby teeth ..

I think I might die doing this ....

On a frightening note, he told me today that his tooth hurt. When I nonchalantly (on the outside - on the inside it was all jelly legs and butterflied stomach) which tooth, he pointed to his left premolar .. the one that has the biggest cavity which is the only one with the black decay in it ...

My stomach turned ...

I asked him how it felt and he said that it hurt when he ate apple or touched it ...

More stomach churning with a mental note to 911 call Dr Skodalakis on Monday.

I gently touched his gum where the new tooth is coming up and asked if that hurt, nope, he said, just this one and pointed to the premolar.

That night as I flossed and brushed his teeth, I brushed longer on the left premolar and with a little more force. It did not bother him at all. While flossing, as I ran the floss through, the floss ribbon slipped between the black enamel and white part of the tooth for the first time. I blinked with surprise a little and A who was watching my face said, "what is it?" ...

I think the black enamel might be falling off ....

So, now, is his tooth getting better or worse???? It certainly does not look worse ... but why does he say it hurts then? Is it referred pain from the new tooth coming in?? Or is his tooth feeling different now that the black enamel is getting ready to fall off??

I am not sure whether to get another xray before he leaves for Norway or not ...

Flossing feedback

When I floss L's teeth, I use dental tape as well as dental floss picks as the teeth where the decay fell out have little notches which are perfect for trapping food. Raw carrot and apple seems to be the worst offender as somehow it almost feels like it slips under his gum, so I first have to use the dental pick and slide it down from the gum base to the tooth and remove anything that is stuck under the gum and then run a long piece of dental tape between his teeth pulling out the food material ...

Yes, his tooth flossing which occurs twice a day is quite involved with special procedures for individual teeth.

Anyway ... this morning, I was doing the usual and he told me that he loved the way that the floss felt as it passed through his lower right molar and premolar gap. This is the area where the black enamel fell off leaving behind a perfectly white but incomplete tooth. But he said that on the other side, where we still have the blacked enamel (which to my hopeful (and hence discounted) eye is looking smaller and smaller), he said that he cannot feel the floss go through so not to bother doing it on that side.

I gently explained that I can do it extra on his right side since he likes it, but I must do it on the other side as I must clean all his teeth.

Interestingly, he cannot feel where the black enamel is but can where the white is .. and interesting that he told me about it ...

Below is the old xray of the side which had the huge cavity on the lower molar and premolar where we now have black enamel and where he does not have feeling of the floss going through ..

Hard to tell, but the teeth on the left side, which is his right is where the black enamel fell off:

In this image, you can see the black on the right side (his right):

This is the side where the black fell off on the lower premolar and where he loves the feeling of the floss going through

We continue on with our toothpowder, fish oil, bone broth, raw milk and cheese, absolutely no grain, sprouted lentil soups, vegetable bread, butter oil, coconut + xylitol mouthwash, xylitol gum .... he does not complain of any pain in his mouth and I still examine his gums everyday ...

So far, it seems like we are at status quo or a little better since the black fell off on one side.

A feels that the molar on the left does not look fully white and I can see what he means ... but I can see a huge white spot exactly where the xray showed decay.

Sept 15 is D Day ... that's when we go for xrays.

L leaves for his grandmother's in Norway with A for 6 weeks. I stay behind for some or all of this time and I shudder to think of his diet while away from me and my insistence on no grain and fish oil ....

His father will do as I say for the most part .. but he is not me and he will not run around as much as I do to make sure that L is getting everything I think his teeth need ....

Culinary failures (sigh) and a success

Sweet potato gnocchi - failed

Sprouting

Sweet potato/cauliflower bread

Muffins