When Quintin was just over a year old, he chipped his front teeth, badly. He loved going out onto the front porch of the book store, where he would stand, with face pressed against the railing, and watch the traffic whiz by. When he toddled past me as we were leaving the shop one day, my attention was divided between his little steps toward the railing and my dad's instructions for the next day's work. When Quintin did not stop to stare at traffic, and instead tumbled his way down the concrete stairs, I was just inches too far away to successfully grab him. He skinned his knees and palms, got an egg shaped lump on his forehead, and ended up with two small chips to his two top, front teeth.
By the time we could locate a dentist who was willing to take our insurance and to operate on a less-than-two-year-old, the chips had grown quite sizable. We were very fortunate to find Dr. Blankenship, and her pediatric expertise was well worth the two hour drive to get to her office! Dr. Blankenship surgically removed all four of Quintin's top front teeth, in order to replace them with a partial bridge (because of the way permanent teeth grow in, it was necessary to remove all four). This photograph was taken on the day that Quintin had the bridge inserted.
Dr. Blankenship's staff re-cemented that bridge about a dozen times before Quintin finally broke the thing completely last Christmas, when a toy box lid at a friend's house fell on him and knocked his "teeth" against the box. The most recent accident happened just after Quintin turned five years old; at his fifth birthday, his insurance changed and we again found ourselves unable to locate a dentist who was both willing and able to work on his mouth. Once we did, our request to get a new partial bridge covered under the new insurance was denied. Sheesh! Our little one has had quite an ordeal! Hopefully, his permanent teeth grow in soon, and they'll be accident-free!
When Quintin was just over a year old, he chipped his front teeth, badly. He loved going out onto the front porch of the book store, where he would stand, with face pressed against the railing, and watch the traffic whiz by. When he toddled past me as we were leaving the shop one day, my attention was divided between his little steps toward the railing and my dad's instructions for the next day's work. When Quintin did not stop to stare at traffic, and instead tumbled his way down the concrete stairs, I was just inches too far away to successfully grab him. He skinned his knees and palms, got an egg shaped lump on his forehead, and ended up with two small chips to his two top, front teeth.
By the time we could locate a dentist who was willing to take our insurance and to operate on a less-than-two-year-old, the chips had grown quite sizable. We were very fortunate to find Dr. Blankenship, and her pediatric expertise was well worth the two hour drive to get to her office! Dr. Blankenship surgically removed all four of Quintin's top front teeth, in order to replace them with a partial bridge (because of the way permanent teeth grow in, it was necessary to remove all four). This photograph was taken on the day that Quintin had the bridge inserted.
Dr. Blankenship's staff re-cemented that bridge about a dozen times before Quintin finally broke the thing completely last Christmas, when a toy box lid at a friend's house fell on him and knocked his "teeth" against the box. The most recent accident happened just after Quintin turned five years old; at his fifth birthday, his insurance changed and we again found ourselves unable to locate a dentist who was both willing and able to work on his mouth. Once we did, our request to get a new partial bridge covered under the new insurance was denied. Sheesh! Our little one has had quite an ordeal! Hopefully, his permanent teeth grow in soon, and they'll be accident-free!
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