Toothbrush Safety PSA

We need this reminder once in a while, right? We're pretty good about sitting down to brush teeth, but last night Emery was messing around and fell with his toothbrush in his mouth. It lodged into the side of his cheek (that fatty gummy part) and stuck. He started to scream instantly, and Clint and I took one look at it and I grabbed my purse and keys and drove Emery to the hospital. Clint stayed home with Chani. After getting to the ER and filling out a form (holding my screaming, bleeding child--who had a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth), they took us back to a room. Several nurses looked at it and Emery did not love all the prodding. The doctor came in and looked. He then asked if anyone had tried to remove it. Nope. He told me they could start an IV and give him some morphine to calm him down and help with the pain, or he could just pull it out. I asked if it would need stitches, and he told me they don't generally stitch in the mouth so no. I told him just to remove it. He reached over and yanked it out. Emery spit a few times and was fine. He was sad, however, that they threw the toothbrush away. They prescribed us some antibiotics to ward off infection and some topical numbing cream.

It could have been so much worse. Please use caution with any object that your kids could fall on or get lodged in their mouth in any way. I know we will be more careful around here.