This is a tale of urgency. This is the second volume in the “Story of Urgency.” If you happened to miss our first part of the series, please read it here: Emergency Dentist: A Story of Urgency- Volume 1.
Have you ever been in a scenario where immediate dental help is needed? Perhaps you have a cavity or a cap has popped off? Well, in this highly emotional tale, a young child is left with an extremely deep chip in his tooth due to some trampoline basketball. Yes, this is similar to the last blog post by our Missoula dentist, but with a different focus. Kids do tend to get creative, and sometimes, an emergency dentist, like Dr. Duke, is needed for immediate help in these situations.
“I wish I were a little taller”
Two siblings were bored one summer day and wanted to try something new. Their parents, who were extremely tired of their boys’ antics, banished them to the outdoors, instructing them to just be creative: Dangerous.
The boys sat pondering… “What could we do that we haven’t done before?”
Of course, the decision, which our Top Rated Local® Missoula Dentist does not recommend with or without adult supervision, was to pull the trampoline, onto the driveway, attach a ramp, and play some slamball. Get creative, indeed. The boys struggled to pull together their creation, and the stage was set: Children dunking the ball on an actual basketball hoop.
Thoughts from our Missoula Dentist
Of course, Dr. Duke was young once upon a time, and certainly remembers and cherishes the imagination of children. However, logic does need to come into play. In respect to the pros and cons of this idea, he has a few:
Pros:
- Potential NBA Career
- Positive reaction from neighborhood crush
- Incredible mental highlight reel for the rest of their young lives
Cons:
- Potential damage to either of the kids’ permanent teeth
- Broken backboard
- A visit to a local dentist to fix your front cracked tooth
As the story is leaning towards, the cons over-weighed the pros, and these children learned the importance of analyzing a situation before “jumping” to conclusions.
The effect of an emergency dentist
Once the ramp was in place, the game started off passive – as they always do. The boys each took turns jumping up and shooting the ball into the hoop. The jump shots turned into jumping layups, which then progressed into dunks. As most readers with siblings know, when boredom strikes kids, especially brothers, saying things like “I double-dare you” quickly comes into play. Well, these wannabe-NBA players decided to double-dog dare each other to each take an alley-oop from the other. The premise was simple: Back the trampoline away from the hoop and fly through the air and dunk. Well, as presumed, the run, the jump and the dunk went about as well as you could expect; the real problem came when a front tooth made contact with the rim. Ouch.
The scene led to blood, tears, and screams from their parents. Upon rushing outside and analyzing the situation, the parents quickly made a call to their emergency dentist. The receptionist, who most likely was smiling upon the call, let the distressed parents know their office would make time for them right away, and to get some ice in the mean time.
The moral of the story is simple: if you are going to let your children play alone, be sure there is ice on hand, they are monitored every once in a while, and you have an emergency dentist, like Dr. Duke, to potentially help if there is an emergency.
Get in touch with Dr. Duke today if you have any emergency dental questions or would like to schedule an appointment today!
