3 teeth less

Bright and early this morning, Joseph and I headed to the dentist's office.
We were there last week for our 6 month cleaning, and I asked the dentist about what our plan of action should be with Joseph's teeth. The orthodontist took a look and saw that 3 of his canines have not fallen out, and based on x-rays, were nowhere near falling out. This was causing a lot of crowding with his other teeth and could result in impaction.
So this morning those 3 teeth came out! The doctor gave him versed in a syrup, and pretty soon he was very drowsy and loopy, although the cartoons still held his attention. (The doctor said that most pediatric dentists put more stock into their TV systems than their anesthetics! LOL!)
2 of the teeth came right out, but the third was stubborn and broke off at the root and it took the doctor quite a while (well, it seemed quite a while to me, but he assured me it was very common and not a problem) to get it out. I could never be a dentist-- the whole thing just made me shiver!
The hygienist put in some temporary spacers and next week we'll go back in to get molds made so he can get permanent spacers. These are small devices that will keep his teeth from moving into the space now made by the extracted teeth.
He probably won't get braces for a couple of years yet, but this stuff will make the braces process shorter and easier.
Joseph did really great! It was funny to see him so out of it. And he was pretty dizzy when he got up from the chair. The hygienist helped him out and into the car (I wasn't much help there, I'm busy just trying to keep myself from falling over!). He came home and watched movies for a couple of hours and has been fine ever since. He doesn't remember much from the procedure now.
It's weird to see the baby teeth with the root still intact. The doctor told me that when the adult teeth start descending, they release osteoclasts which break down the root of the baby tooth which is what makes it start to get loose, and is why there is no root attached when the baby tooth finally falls out. Interesting, huh? Anyway, the doctor gave him his teeth in a tiny yellow treasure box and he was pretty proud to show his brother when he got home.