Mom of The Year

Well, my quest for "Mom of The Year" (imaginary as it may be) came to a screeching halt 2 weeks ago when, as any good mother would, I took Ezra to the dentist for his semi-annual cleaning.

The dentist came out after Ezra's examination and said that Ezra did not have one cavity (imaginary pat on my back). He did not have two cavities (self-high-five). He did not have three cavities (wait, this is sounding a little strange). He did not have four cavities (uh-oh). He did, however, have FIVE cavities... count them, one, two, three, four, five. And one of them was so large they could not put in a filling, but rather, they had to put some bling in his mouth and crown a baby tooth. What!?

How could this be? We brush twice a day with a soft bristled tooth brush. We even, on occasion, throw in an after-lunch brush just for good measure. He chews sugarless gum every day after his afternoon snack. He rarely drinks sweet beverages and drinks lots of water. He eats a healthy, balanced diet. Candy is a rarity. The one, apparently key (and so, so obvious) element I seemed to miss? Well, flossing, of course. Who knew you were supposed to floss your kid's teeth? I mean, it seems to obvious in hind sight... but I must say it never occurred to me to floss Ezra's teeth, and well, apparently he has very tight contacts (thus, 4 of the 5 cavities were between his teeth). I'm pretty sure he had food stuck between his teeth from the time he started on solids, 5 years ago.

Ezra was a crown-receiving-super-hero (after a bit of goofy gas made him nice and happy). All this to say, I'll have to pursue my imaginary Mom of The Year award next year, after the dental hygiene blight is cleared from my record.