Update to: Missing teeth?

Do you every have one of those "Duh!" moments? I have them with increasing frequency these days.

When we mentioned to the pediatrician at Children's Hospital that Macy and Felix were missing these teeth, he said he'd do some research and see what he could find. We were later told that he had no idea what or why this was.

So in my head I think, "Okay, I guess it will just be a mystery then."

Until someone today said how they looked it up online and found X, Y and Z about it.

DUH! I never thought of using this here interwebby to look for answers. Um, hello, I spend 23 hours a day online and never thought to Google this. As I said...frazzled mommy brain.

So....for anyone wondering, or anyone who also has children with missing teeth, here's the 411. I found quite a bit of information on this. This article, Dental Injuries Due to African Traditional Therapies for Diarrhea, in the Western Journal of Medicine pretty much says it all. Read the whole thing if you have time. If not, here are some of the major points:

• Many of the healers in Africa know little about healing practices involving the mouth.
• Said healers believe that removing the cuspids (either before or after they erupt) will cure or prevent diarrhea.
• They do this using unsterilized tools, in an assembly line fashion, without cleaning them between patients.
• "Tools" used include a metal nail, hot needle, metal blades made from spoon handles or bike tire spokes, or sharp fingernails.
• "Reports of traditional healing practices of many African countries in which the cuspids and incisors were removed or mutilated have been numerous: ... 59% among Ethiopian Jews... 70% in some populations in Ethiopia." (Not sure I understand these stats - are they saying 70% of the population?? I certainly didn't observe that when there.)

So, as Paul Harvey used to say... Now you know the rest of the story. Good day!