Missing Teeth

Today I spent over 30 minutes talking to the mother of a 6 year old little girl. This little girl is missing 18 of her permanent teeth. The normal number of teeth is 32. This little girl has all of her baby teeth, there are just no permanent teeth to come in after she loses those. It is not unusual for someone to be missing 1 or 2 permanent teeth, but to be missing 18 is beyond description. I assured the mother in the best way that I could that everything would be alright. You see we have modern dental science on our side. We can do orthodontic work and then we can follow that up with implants and crowns and bridges and not only will she have functioning teeth, they will look great. I am not sure the mother was convinced. That is why the conversation lasted over 30 minutes.
After talking with this little girl's mother I began to think about what it would be like if I were having to deliver tragic news to a mother or father about their lovely little child. Could I do it? I do not know. Could I go and face someone and be able to tell them that their life will never be the same. That their little Billy or Suzy was not going to live, or that they had a terrible disease and that life would be difficult from that day forward. I am not sure that I could do that, but I am thankful that there are men and women that can. Because they can, does it make it easy for them? I think not. I just think they have a gift I do not have.
I am referring the little girl to a specialist that will be able to take care of her beyond what I can do. The little girl has no idea what is ahead of her, and I like that. She just knows that she has a mother that loves her and is willing to do whatever it takes.