“All we want is our two front teeth.”
Everybody has heard the song: “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.” Not all may have said it, but certainly everyone has been in the predicament of not having front teeth. First, of course, is that we’ve all been gummers at birth and had some crying times, which were trying for our parents, as the first ones arrived.
Next was the losing of those baby teeth, and sometimes that created a bit of pain. But typically, they’d often just fall out or come out when a bite was taken from an apple.
Those replacements didn’t hurt any, as we haven’t heard the juveniles complain; though it’s obviously been too long since it happened to us for any memory.
However, our grandson had some sort of problem, too complicated for us to cite what it was, but he had to have his originals taken out ahead of time. That took some drugs to reduce the ouch. He came through fine, and just got his next set recently.
Now back to explaining that opening statement: We were in need of our third set of two front teeth after January 7, 1977. It occurred when were breaking a bunch of racehorse stallions, and one of them reared over backwards on us. We were fortunate to free ourselves, but when we landed the flying saddle stirrup knocked our teeth out.
Snow covered the ground, so chances of finding the lost teeth were impossible, even though the dentist asked us if we had found them. Actually that thought never occurred to us, but there wasn’t much pain or bleeding from the mishap.
It was a couple of days before we could get the replacements put in, and we took our share of ribbing during that time. The fakes are whiter, straighter and less worn than the real ones, but we’re glad to have them.
We do have a vague feeling of what it’s like to have false teeth, which we really do have. We’re lucky, it’s just two and not a whole mouthful like Dad, our grandparents and several aunts and uncles have had in yesteryears.
Young horses are like people in that they lose teeth, and replacements grow in. However, we have had a few horses who were in the same predicament we were in. They had their two front teeth accidentally knocked out as mature animals.
Unlike us, those horses didn’t have any false teeth put in, but we really didn’t talk to a
veterinarian to see if they could be replaced. However, despite predictions that they’d be hard keepers, the top performers managed to do quite well.
Satisfied with what teeth we have, many others fit the description given in Song of Solomon 4:2: “Yourteeth are as white as sheep, recently shorn and freshly washed. Your smile is flawless, each tooth matched with its twin.”
Thus, we must remember Matthew 6:16: “Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face. God doesn’t require attention-getting devices. He won’t overlook what you are doing; he’ll reward you well.” Likewise the advice in Psalm 34:13: “Guard your tongue from profanity, and no more lying through your teeth.”
+++ALLELUIA+++