Anyway, I had been prepping Garrett for today's appointment for about a week now. We've discussed the idea of going to a doctor who will check his teeth, take pictures of his teeth and clean them to look nice and pretty. Then, low and behold, Sesame Street's episode this morning was all about teeth! One more bit of reinforcement for my dentist discussions.
First off, I know most people/parents fall into one of two camps. Camp 1 includes parents who find any dental visits when the child still has baby teeth to be a tad ridiculous considering the fact that those teeth will eventually end up in the trash (or a jar for safe keeping if you're that mom.) I know these parents would of course take their child to the dentist if something were noticeably wrong, but otherwise, they wait until permanent teeth are in place before making this trip. Camp 2 consists of parents who take their small child to the dentist, but this group is actually divided as well. There's the group who takes their infant to the dentist before they even have any teeth and then the group who figures, hey, the kid is already on our dental insurance and it probably wouldn't be a bad idea for them to go before they get too old to develop some sort of weird fear of the dentist. I'm in that last group. Dental insurance for our family versus for just Keith and I is exactly the same, cost-wise. So Garrett has had dental insurance for as long as I have. (I didn't have any while teaching. And we never had any growing up. A perk of being a PK. That's why my first dental appointment wasn't until I was 13. And I lied and told the dentist it had only been a year since my last appointment. I'm sure he thought I hadn't brushed my teeth once in that entire year, since I had 4 cavities and a plaque problem.)
A friend of mine gave me a recommendation for a pediatric dentist, I called and made the appointment, and there we sat this morning, in the waiting room, watching "Toy Story" on one of 2 wall-mounted TV's. If you know my child at all, you know that this movie is one of his favorites. A positive to seeing a pediatric dentist instead of a regular one. The hygienist gave me a quick tour to show me where exams take place (a huge room with ceiling and wall mounted TV's, a large aquarium, and tons of toys), the room for x-rays (with yet another TV), and finally, the room where I met the dentist and got a quick overview of today's appointment (this room also had a TV along with several books and toys). Every TV was showing the same movie, so no matter where the child was, they were able to keep up with what they were watching. I only wish my dentist would invest in something similar, except maybe showing "Friends" reruns instead.
The dentist told me they would do x-rays, a cleaning, fluoride treatment, along with an exam. Then he asked Garrett if he wanted to come with him and let Momma go to the waiting room and read a magazine. Garrett happily went along with him without a single backward glance towards me. The way this office is set up, parents are invited and allowed to watch the exams through a window in the hallway, but I chose to read "People" in the waiting room in the relative peace and quiet that accompanies other moms waiting for their kids.
45 minutes later, I was called back and told that Garrett was finished. I sat down to pay our co-pay and schedule his next appointment, when I hear his voice. He walks around the corner being followed by 3 ladies who worked there, who were treating him as if he hung the moon. They gave him a sticker and a balloon (which are protocol) and then every single lady came up to me to tell me how great he did and how fun he is and how friendly he is, etc. He somehow managed to charm them all. If he feels like being charming, then he is, it just depends on his mood. Thankfully today was one of those days.
He has some nerve damage to one of his front teeth, which I suspected, because he fell and hit his mouth about a month ago and the tooth has been changing colors since then. He also has 2 small cavities on his back molars. While I do find myself rolling my eyes about filling baby teeth, knowing they will fall out in the next 4 years, it's not that big of a deal and atleast this way he will learn early on what a filling is all about.
Now I get to try and figure out how to floss his teeth. It's not something we've been doing, but apparently it's something we're supposed to be doing, so I'm going to give it a shot. But this is the kid who randomly snap his mouth shut while we're in the middle of brushing his teeth, so the first time he bites me, I will probably be tempted to quit, among other things.
And how weird is it to think that at his next cleaning appointment in October, I will have a 3-4 month old with me!
3 comments:
I'm glad you blogged about this. I've been trying to plan a time to take Katelyn. I haven't taken her yet for fear of her freaking out and having a hysterical meltdown from fear. I was just going to take her to my regular dentist but I should prob. find a pediatric one. We've been reading stories of kids going to the dentist so she could see a little of what it's about. I can't even imagine them trying to put a filling in. I don't know why, but I always thought kids teeth at this age were too "new" to get cavities. That's sound dumb, now! I never even thought that Katelyn might have cavities. I guess we'll find out. I'll probably be the mom that takes pictures ;o)
Landon had quite a bit of dental work done last fall. I have been so careful with his teeth and, of course, he still had trouble. I also thought it seemed wasteful to put that kind of money into baby teeth, but also didn't want the problem to get out of hand and damage his permanent teeth underneath. We went to a pediatric dentist after having a HORRIBLE experience with dr. hawkins. He was very impatient and rude. Landon was crying and dr. hawkins kept saying, "it's ok honey! it's ok! if you don't stop crying i'm going to squirt this water down your throat!" By the end of the appt I was in tears right along with Landon! About an hour after we left, Landon broke out in a rash all over from the stress. This from a little boy who very, very rarely cries or has fits of any kind! The pediatric dentist is worth every penny!
Sounds like Garrett did really great! That is so wonderful that his first dentist visit was very positive b/c it should predispose him to think favorably about going to the dentist from this point forward. I do think childhood dentist experiences really color a people's view of it the rest of their life. Sage first went to the dentist at the age of two. She did really well and all the staff were so sweet and patient with her, explaining what all the instruments were for, letting her hold some of them, letting her hold a mirror to watch what they were doing, etc. One of my very close friends is a fantastic dentist, so that has really been nice for us. I kind of get the "inside scoop" on timelines, what to be doing, etc. A few years ago, she actually made an excellent DVD for parents and kids all about dental care and what to expect at the dentist's office. It's called Smiles for a Lifetime, and it's really good and Sage requests to watch it. At Sage's first appointment, the doctor's office actually took a polaroid picture of her!
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