My first dental emergency

By:  Ashleigh

I was so excited when the red Strawberry Shortcake bike that was passed down from my older sisters was all mine!  I was four or five years old and learning how to ride a bike.  It still had training wheels, but I felt like such a big girl!

One summer day my mom decided to take us on a bike ride around the neighborhood.  She strapped our little brother in the seat behind her, my older two sisters hopped on their bikes, and I jumped on the red Strawberry Shortcake bike.  We made our way around the neighborhood.  This was my first official bike ride beyond our driveway and sidewalk in front of our house!

Our house was at the bottom of a hill.  I remember that we were all stopped at the top of the hill; the final homestretch.  I was feeling a little nervous.  My older sisters went first and seemed to fly down the hill and I wanted to be just like them.  I'm sure my mom said something about using the brakes as I started off, but I was too excited to listen and wanted to feel the wind in my hair!  I get halfway down the hill and I see it.  One of the cement segments of the sidewalk was popped up about 2 inches higher.  I panicked!  I slammed on the brakes and remember the handlebars shaking under my hands and I hit the bump.  I was told I flew over the handlebars and landed on my face.

The next thing I remember is laying on our kitchen counter with a washcloth in my mouth.  My mom was making phone calls to the dentist and family members to watch my siblings while she took me to an emergency appointment.  

I can remember the darkish room, and the sailboat picture on the wall opposite of the chair.  I remember the heavy lead apron on me.  I also remember a sense of being safe.  The dentist was so calm and nice.  Even while extracting my two upper front teeth!  

The lower two teeth front teeth came out in my peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the following days.  My mom had to search through the Wonder Bread and Jif Peanut butter mush (sorry, gross...I know!).  It felt like several years before my permanent teeth came in.  "All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" was my theme song that year!

I tell you this story because summer is a time where we have a higher incident of child emergency calls and it's important to know that we are here for you!  Dr. Jones has already seen a boy who had a tooth through his lip due to a trampoline accident, a girl who hit her tooth and lip on the side of a pool, a boy who took a baseball to the tooth and fractured it, and several other little summer mishaps.  When parents call Dr. Jones in the midst of these scary summer accidents, her primary goal is to give the parents confidence that we will care for their child and everything will be okay, just the way I felt when I visited my dentist after my bike accident.   Dr. Jones' emergency contact number is on our answering machine, so if you are currently a patient here or you are with friends or family that need emergency dental care, don't hesitate to call Dr. Jones...even on evenings and weekends.  On several occasions, Dr. Jones has the parents text photos to her so she can diagnose or offer advice right away...even before getting to the office.   We know that summer fun can sometimes lead to summer emergencies, so know that your dentist is only a call (or text) away!

My oldest son is turning four this summer.  We just bought him is first bike which he has been wishing for daily for the last few months.  The first thing that we will teach him?  How to use the breaks!