“Look at that,” she said. “It’s bad. It probably needs to come out.”
My stomach lurched. Out? Needing to remain calm for him, I anchored my feet and took a deep breath. Zach was reclined on the chair, still holding his mouth wide open.
“Yes. Or, maybe we try a root canal first.” Her eyes looked serious but sad. She knew how hard this news was hitting me, and what it meant for Zach.
“Oh, my. Those aren’t very good options,” I said.
“No.”
“How urgent is this? Is it something we can think about and decide later?”
“No. I’d say it’s very urgent given the infection.” The word urgent hung in the air like a dark cloud.
My hands started trembling. Zach closed his mouth. Just days before, my husband noticed a grayish area on the back of Zach’s front tooth. He’s had a cavity there before, so we figured it had returned. We called the dentist Monday morning and went there Tuesday afternoon. By Wednesday afternoon, Zach was seated in the endodontist’s office awaiting an emergency root canal.
The gray area was not actually a cavity; the color indicated that the tooth was dead. I never really considered that teeth died. The dentist explained that trauma to the mouth or teeth can result in the nerve dying, which leads to tooth death. He had, in fact, had trauma to that area, twice. But that was years ago. Didn’t matter, she said. The damage came slowly. Prior to this, no exam or six-month cleaning ever revealed trouble. Some of my worst dental nightmares were coming true, while all my gratefulness through the years for a lack of such troubles began evaporating.
I gazed at his sweet face. I didn’t know what Zach understood in that moment; vocabulary words like endodontist and root canal were probably not in his repertoire. If he heard his dad talking about his own root canals, then he’d likely understand that this meant pain.
In a flurry, we were seated in the office and connected with the endodontist. Information was traded, and the appointment was made for 24 hours later. After a sleepless night on my part, we were en route to another office for a procedure that we weren’t sure Zach would tolerate. To complicate matters, if he didn’t tolerate the root canal, or if things looked worse once the procedure began, there was a chance that we’d need to extract the front tooth. And that meant general anesthesia. And I was not fond of that.
Outside the endodontist’s office was a small garden with a trellis and a fountain. Zach indicated he wanted to get into the dirt and the rocks, and I wished we had driven there just for that. He would have been content. With 15 minutes to the procedure, we had to go in and explain all we could about his needs, including the fact that anything minty gave him hives: in the dental world, mint is ubiquitous.
The very tall man with kind eyes behind his mask walked in and introduced himself. He said normally no one would be allowed to remain in the room while he worked on a patient, but in this case, we were both allowed to be there. You bet, I thought. Zach needs us there.
He began telling Zach how it would go, but when he said you just tell me if you’re uncomfortable in any way…I immediately tensed up. Didn’t he get the message about Zach being nonverbal?? I gave my husband a “look” and his look back said it’ll be fine. I wasn’t so sure.
The doctor began swabbing his gum with goo to numb it. “This is just to numb your gum, Zachary. It’s nice and minty…”
Talk about tensing up. “Um, he’s allergic to mint. Mint gives him hives.” Sweat was rolling down my back. Did anyone ever read the forms they have a person fill out before a procedure??
“I’ve never had a problem with mint,” he said. “We use it all the time.” I wanted to grab that goo from his gloved hand.
“Well, we need to watch for hives. Mint gives him hives.” I didn’t need one more thing causing worry.
When the needle was prepped, I looked at Zach’s shoes. And for the remainder of the procedure, I studied Zach’s shoes and the stitching in the chair and the way the hair on his legs turned up around his kneecaps.
About ten minutes into this, I realized there was a great deal of talking, a lot of bright lights, 70s music in the background, dental office odors, and, for Zach, odd and uncomfortable sensations in his mouth. A recipe for sensory disaster. We countered the assaultive sensory input with skin brushing, “tickles,” and the occasional supportive comments.
Telling Zach he was a rock star was the absolute truth. He handled this with patience and cooperation. Mostly. The assistant left the room at one point, which likely inadvertently cued Zach that all was done. He sat up, ripped the equipment from his mouth, including the rubber dam, took off the glasses, and tried to get up.
The doctor moved to the corner while we re-settled him, which was no easy task. He tried to put his fingers in his mouth which caused the doctor to emit a sound like ahhhhhh—ooooaaaahhhhh but we quickly gripped his hands and reclined him. Who wouldn’t want to do exactly what he did in the middle of a root canal?
“We’re almost done,” assured my husband. But there was no telling if we were indeed almost done. I brushed the heck out of his arms and legs and provided sensory tickles non-stop. If that didn’t work, my canvas bag held other supports I could whip out Mary-Poppins style.
“Are we able to complete the canal,” I asked, “or are we looking at something more?”
Music to my ears: “We are almost done, and I’m going to seal up the tooth. Hang in there, Zachary.”
When all was done and the equipment came out for real, Zach’s hand sprung to his mouth and began picking. There was that sound emitting from the doctor again. He looked and found a chunk of sealant hanging on the tooth edge, which he promptly flicked off, and Zach was fine.
We took him immediately out to the garden, where he spent 20 minutes in the dirt.
“Are you okay, bud?” I leaned over and kissed his head. He looked up at me and nodded yes.
“We are soooooo proud of you! Oh my goodness, we are proud. You handled that like a champion.” I saw his blond head nod again.
I spent the drive home feeling awe for this boy, this young man, who could not tell us he had discomfort in his mouth, who could not ask questions about this procedure, who could not tell the dentist if he felt uncomfortable. This is his life. And he handles it like a champ.
What he could tell us with his device when we arrived home is that he wanted pizza. I love this kid to pieces.
<3
Oh, you must be so proud of him! He is a rock star!
Very much so. He is amazing. 💗
What a courageous boy–and so well supported and so loved. 🙂
I was worried about him and you told the story with every detail.
I am so proud of Zachary and know this had to be hard for mom and dad and the stress of it.
Another story that you did so well. You lived through it. Thank you both for being such wonderful parents snd show him so much love. And he trusted both of you as he was going through the procedure.
I think you had an understanding doctor who was patient to Zachary. That also helped.
I too hardly slept the night before , thinking of this difficult procedure and feeling for Zach having to tolerate another hard task. I could not be more proud of this young man who has dealt with so much during his life. And also for his parents who help and support him so well. It hurts my heart that he cannot tell his parents that he might hurt , etc., but they are so attuned to Zach it seems like messages ismos to them from Zach. I am so proud of both – they are indeed Zach’s angels on earth.Another well written article to say the least!
Actions clearly speak louder than words. Zach’s actions told everyone he knows what is happening and he can, and will, deal with it. He was right.
He is a superstar! What an ordeal for all of you! Great post, as always!