We went to the new dentist tonight in Ft. Lee, in an upscale building with valet parking (it was free). He's only in his 30's but is the head of Mt. Sinai's hospital's pediatric dentistry department. The dentist took more X-rays of Alans teeth. He rated one at a 3 and the other a 2, anything worse than 3 they'd come out. There are root fractures, but there is still a chance they may heal. We have to watch for gum infections and the tooth turning black. Alan didn't need anything on the bottom, but if the top teeth come out he'd be able to have a bridge at 2 years of age when the 24 month molars come in - he might need this for speech. We saw photos of other children with lost top teeth and bridges and they looked very good. He did think Alan had one of the worst trauma's he'd seen in 10 years and was worried if he'd been hurt bilaterally or unilateraly (his bruises and scraps were unilateral, one side of the head). He was also concerned if the babysitter had abused Alan, since he was also a parent. He seemed much better with children who were there (including Alan) than the other guy. He even had a video game in his waiting room for the kids to play with!
He'd actually interviewed the other dentist, and didn't think he was very good.
Alan has to stay on soft food and go back in 2 weeks. This dentist wasn't concerned about feeding him sideways with the bottle or keeping Alan's fingers out of his mouth -- his approach is what will happen will happen.
We did confirm that 4 teeth are missing from the bottom, unfortuantely we don't know why the 2 not out yet came out at the ER.
He told us he had a patient once who was 9 days old. Apparently this baby was born with a tooth, and the mother wanted it out (it was an extra tooth, I guess it was ok to take it out).
The food thing still upsets me a lot. I've had to stop finger food as I can't think of anything soft. The wagon wheels, arrowroot cookies and teething biscuits just sit there (and there is a baby with teeth on the box of Arrowroot cookies). I have things in the fridge/freezer and cupboard I bought for him to try - roast beef hash, refried beans, stage 3 baby food, a veggie burger, edame beans, macaroni and cheese. It makes me sad to see them not knowing when he can eat them. I worry if he'll be set back without finger food for dexterity. It's hard to amuse him while I eat -- although he's now ROLLING the toy car my MIL got on the high chair, not just banging it. I guess I'm still upset about what happened and sometimes I get really bummed. Sometimes I feel I hurt worse than he does :(
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