Hyperdontia: My Son’s Superpower

Today Marco, my nine-year-old, walked into the oral surgeon’s office for a procedure like a BOSS. He greeted the staff and waited patiently with me while taking selfies with the teeth that would soon be extracted.

It turns out that Marco’s mouth has special powers!

After multiple opinions and treatments (braces) from dental professionals, it was confirmed that he has Hyperdontia, most commonly known as Supernumerary Teeth.

The National Library of Medicine states that “Supernumerary teeth are defined as those in addition to the normal series of deciduous or permanent dentition.” In other words, it’s an extra tooth that grows behind a permanent tooth. In my son’s case, there was one on each of his two front teeth. Since his baby teeth weren’t budging, they had to be surgically extracted, followed by his supernumeraries.

If you’ve had your wisdom teeth removed, you know about the pre and post-op process. I have never had a procedure like this, but witnessing it on a child wrecked me. With my son being so young, he had to be fully sedated.

That in itself is what scared me the most.

In my mind, I could only see worse-case scenarios, and I couldn’t stop hugging him in the hours prior. Not enough prayers could be made to calm down my stressed self. Feeling so helpless and putting my child’s well-being in the hands of someone else was terrifying.

In the meantime, he walked into the procedure room and climbed on the surgical chair with a big smile on his face. He observed as the kind ladies hooked the EKG machine on his chest and how the tools were being arranged.

When the doctor mentioned laughing gas, Marco was all for it! He then went on to extend his arm and bravely received three needle sticks until his IV was finally flowing.

While he joked and laughed with the staff, we said our goodbyes, and I was escorted out. The 30-minute procedure felt like an eternity, but finally, I was brought back to him. It took us at least 30 – 45 minutes more until we made our way to the car and headed home.

I was beyond grateful for a successful surgery but was nervous about how the recovery would go.

Well, Marco began by watching cartoons, followed by drinking water and liquid yogurt. As he regained his strength, he asked for chicken noodle soup and went on to play with his sister. Despite his strict diet for the next 48 hours (smooth and soft foods like smoothies, soups, mashed potatoes, and ice cream), his appetite increased together with his energy. So much so that he went on to try and eat a raw carrot!

Without pain medication, aside from a small dose of Ibuprofen, Marco acts as if nothing happened but is looking forward to all the cash the tooth fairy has to drop off for the 4 teeth he had removed. He is his merry self and enjoys watching his toothless mouth in the mirror too. Not once did he complain, cry, or feel self-pity.

So not only does my son have “superpower” teeth, but he also possesses the superpowers of bravery and resiliency.

When your child is ill, gets injured, or encounters physical limitations, our hearts, our minds, and our souls shatter into pieces. Still, with our maternal instinct in full mode, we spring into action and find immediate solutions to help or comfort them. While we may seem calm to the common eye, we can’t stop torturing ourselves with pessimistic thoughts and imagining the worse things that could happen.

We beat ourselves to pieces as parents, yet children gracefully overcome one obstacle after the next. Maybe if we faced the world with the resiliency a child does, goodness could reign, and our spiritual strength could grow.

Kids define resilience, and we have so much to learn from them.