yoko asks: My 22-month-old son fell and chipped his teeth. How can I fix it?
Hi yoko –
I’m a big believer in doing the jobs you can. Every day, I’m the only one – yes the ONLY ONE – who takes on the important tasks of barking at passers-by, chasing the squirrels in our yard, and jumping all over Handsome when he comes home, particularly if he’s wearing nice black clothes that really need my hairs covering them for style. I’m proud to do these jobs, and they make me feel very important.
However, there are other jobs that I’m really not equipped for. Handsome makes the money to pay our rent, he brings food home for both of us, and he’s the only one of us who drives the car (though I would love to be able to do that!).
My point, yoko, is that there are certain jobs that need to be left to those who are best at them. Fixing teeth is one of those. I could be proven wrong, I suppose, but I really don’t think that repairing a broken tooth is something like putting a bandage on a cut, which pretty much any human can do. Even if you were able to repair the teeth, perhaps by gluing the broken parts back on, I’d be concerned that you might not do a job that would last long enough, or look good enough, to be worthy of your son. So I really recommend you go to a dentist or a dental surgeon. I know it will cost a lot more, but this is your kid’s mouth. And as a dog, let me say that I am very appreciative of my mouth and how well it works!
Also, there’s another issue here. Which is that neither you nor I know if that fall caused any other damage. Were the roots of your son’s teeth damaged? Was there even a possible damage to his skull or even his brain from the fall?
So I really recommend going to a professional. Later on, when he comes home crying with a skinned elbow, you can be a super-parent and do all the caretaking yourself. But this is a bigger issue than that. So I’d trust your precious kid to nothing less than an expert.
Cheers,
Shirelle