Adventures in Dentistry

I admit it, I was in love with Drive's little snaggle tooth. It was another bullet point on the lengthy list of "What Makes Drive Adorable." But in my heart, I knew it was in peril.

His teeth were in bad shape, and he was due to have a dental cleaning before we left for Gettysburg. On the original date of his appointment, however, abnormalities appeared on the pre-operative ECG. The vet suggested an ultrasound of his heart, which presented a serious problem: if we opted for the ultrasound, our limited funds would no longer allow the dental. But what if there were something wrong with his heart, and he suffered a catastrophic crash under anesthesia?

We chose the ultrasound. I spent the day pacing and anxious, and Lanie was much the same. This was, after all, the very day after we had lost our beautiful old Bullie.

The ultrasound showed no abnormalities, nothing in his heart flapping or leaking that shouldn't be, nothing to thick or too weak.

His rescheduled dental took place on this past Tuesday. I expected he would lose three or four teeth, and that a couple of the extractions might even be difficult. I feared for his buckteeth.

I was not expecting to hear, "We took seventeen teeth."

His front teeth were among the casualties. Twelve of those seventeen were so loose they barely registered on the receipt; they practically fell out. Two of them were difficult but required due to bone loss and exposed root.

Here's a shot of his new, less toothy snoot. After a rough first night, he's back to himself, eating and drinking and smiling at me when I come home. And his remaining several teeth are a brilliant pearly white.