Dental Woes

As I wrote earlier, Danielle is having more than her fair share of dental woes.

She has to have her wisdom teeth out, which will have to be done in two separate surgeries, because of the crazy way our state-sponsored medical insurance works.

But the dental joy isn't finished there.  She still has three cavities that need to be filled.

This morning, her dentist filled the first of the three.  Since the cavities were in several parts of her mouth, he didn't want to freeze everything all at once.  He said that kids have a tendency to bite themselves, often causing injury, when their entire mouth is frozen.

So Danielle will have to go back to the dentist yet again.

This semester, she's enrolled in quite a few more mainstreamed classes, which aren't as tolerant of absences as her specialized homeroom class.  As a result, she can't really afford to be absent more than absolutely necessary, so she went to school immediately after her appointment.  According to FosterEema, Danielle's mouth was so frozen that she was slurring her words and blowing spit bubbles every time she talked.

Although she tried not to, FosterEema couldn't help it and she laughed.

"Thut upp!" Danielle cried out in protest.

I am hoping that all this dental unpleasantness will encourage Danielle to brush more often.  When I heard about the cavities and tried to talk to her about it, she just stood there and grinned, like she thought it was hilariously funny.  Maybe a dose of natural consequences will teach her the importance of brushing and flossing.