CrazedPhotoMom

Teeth Tales

Nathaniel had his first ever dentist appointment yesterday. I called last week thinking that we'd have to wait at least a month or so but they had a cancellation and asked if we wanted to come on Monday. I spent the end of the week and the weekend talking to Nate about the dentist and what they were going to do. We practiced opening wide and I explained to him that the dentist would be putting his fingers into his mouth to clean his teeth. Still, I was anxious and nervous for him. I had no idea what to expect or how he would do with it all. It's only been in the last year or so that he's allowed us to brush his teeth - before then he would clamp his teeth and lips closed. But in the last year, he's done a complete turn around and even prompts us to brush his teeth! When we started brushing, we had to brush with just water - NO toothpaste. Then I would put just a touch on the brush...not even enough to tell. Over the course of a month or so, I kept upping the amount of toothpaste until it got to the point where I could put a normal amount on.

Anyway, my neighbor called me yesterday morning and asked if I wanted her to stay with the girls while I took Nate to the dentist. I was extremely grateful for the offer and took her up on it. I wanted to make sure that if possible, I could go back with Nate. And once we got there, we got right in and didn't have to sit around. The hygenist was very nice and took the time to go over every single tool in her kit, showed him how the chair worked, the cool sunglasses he would get to wear and the bright light they use to see his teeth better. You could see the worry in his eyes but he didn't cry at all.

When she was finally ready to start, he let her put the sunglasses on without a problem but when she went to lay him back, he wanted to stay sitting up. All she had to do was ask him to lean back and he did as she asked. She started by counting his teeth and you all know how he loves his numbers. He was quite excited to learn that he has 20 teeth. Then she asked him if he had any germy bugs on his teeth and he told her no. She asked if she could check anyway and he told her ok. He sat perfectly still while she cleaned his teeth all up! She rinsed and then used the cool vacuum to suck it all out - he thought that was the neatest thing. When she was all finished, she set him up in the chair and he was so ready to be done. He whipped the sunglasses off, tried taking the bib thing off and she's like "oh honey, wait...the dentist needs to come in and take a look". His eyes filled with tears and I reassured him. I told him he was doing a fantastic job and that if he could hold on just a little longer, I'd let him have some ice cream after we were done. (Yeah, I know...giving a kid ice cream after his dentist appointment is kind of ironic!) That stopped all remnants of tears. And the hygenist saw that he was borderline upset and made sure the dentist came right in. The dentist took a peek, mentioned the crowding on the top and I explained that he is a thumbsucker. He said "yep, that will do it." He also said if we could get him to stop, that would be great but not to stress over it.

Result - zero cavaties and a "you're doing a great job brushing his teeth!" And to keep up the good work. Nate was thrilled because he got to pick a prize out of the prize box - a yellow matchbox type of car. And was just as thrilled when he got a new toothbrush kit complete with dinosaur flossers!!

And on the same page with teeth are these AWESOME tooth fairy pillows. My friend, Melissa, handmade these for me with the kids initials. The area where their inital is located is a little pocket to put a lost tooth in...and then they put this pillow under their pillow!