It often doesn't work that way.
Christopher broke his jaw on February 19, 2007. He spent almost a week in Cardinal Glennon Hospital getting his jaw wired shut. Once the wires were off, it was done, right? No. A couple of years later, the dentist informed us that a pre-emergent molar was coming in crooked because of the accident. Christopher was going to have to have the baby tooth pulled so the molar could come in. Then he was going to have to have braces to move the molar upright and back.
All spring we've watched the new molar come in where the baby tooth had been, anticipating the time when the wires could come out once and for all. The crooked molar was moved into place. It was all done, right? No. Two weeks ago, the dentist informed us that the molar we've been working so hard to move is reabsorbing. It was not only knocked crooked during the breaking of his jaw, it was damaged and only had one root. There was insufficient nutritional support for the tooth and it was being reabsorbed like baby teeth are before the adult tooth comes in underneath. Because the tooth had been reabsorbed so rapidly over the past six months, he recommended that it come out. But neither the dentist or the orthodontist wanted to touch that tooth extraction with a 10-foot pole.
So yesterday Christopher went to an oral surgeon. He took an x-ray and told us it was probably going to come out in pieces. He'd have to dig around and try to extract as many as possible. I stayed while they got the IV in Christopher. Then I stepped out into the waiting room. It literally wasn't 5 minutes later when they came to get me. He was all done. The tooth came out in one piece, except for a tiny bit of the root where there was some scar tissue. That was all he had to drill out. What a blessing!
But the whole thing has been a very intense reminder that there are consequences to our actions - even years and years later. It would behoove us all to think very carefully about what we do.