First Trip to the Dentist

Last week I finally called and made an appointment for Andrew to go to the dentist. Yes, he will be four next month and he hasn't been there yet.  We didn't add him to dental insurance previously because the increase of premiums would've cost more than paying for a cleaning with cash. I had meant to take him to the dentist last year for a cleaning, but it never happened.

Anyway, when I called to make an appointment for him they didn't have anything until April, but they said they'd let us know if anything opened up.  Wednesday afternoon I got a phone call about an appointment for the following day at 2:40.  I took it, even though I was worried about there not being time to prepare him for the impending visit.

Wednesday afternoon when I picked him up from school I started talking to him about the appointment the next day.  Of course his first response was "I don't want to go to the dentist!".  I kept talking to him and was trying to talk up the visit. I told him all about the fun chair he was going to get to sit in and the cool instruments he would get to see.  I also promised that if he was a good boy during his appointment we could go to Trader Joe's afterward and pick out a treat.

Yesterday morning while he was eating breakfast I told him again that he was going to the dentist and his response was "Yay!  Can we go now?".  I was happy that he was excited, but figured he would definitely change his tune when we were actually on the way there.

I dropped him off at school and let his teacher know that I would be picking him up at 2:15, which I know is during nap time. She said she'd make sure he was up.  I got there at 2:15 and peeked in the room. It was still dark, but Chelsea saw me and went to get Andrew.  He was obviously just waking up when he walked out.  She said she'd woken him up, but when she turned her back to check on something he laid back down on his cot and went back to sleep.  He was groggy, but we headed to the car and went to the dentist.

On the way in there was a little kitty sitting on the sidewalk. He wanted to stay and play with it, but I said we needed to go in:

He wasn't happy about that.

Once we got checked in we sat in the waiting room reading some books:

After about a 15 minute wait (and a trip to their bathroom) he got called back to be seen.

I was so proud when he climbed right up into her chair.  She went about showing him all of the different tools she would use, from the toothbrush to the mirror to the little suction thing that she called Mr. Thirsty.

She gave him some sunglasses to wear so he wouldn't have to look into the bright light and then she leaned him back in the chair, which he loved.  She went to work counting his teeth and narrated everything that she was doing as she did it.

When it came time to brush his teeth she gave him his choice of toothpaste (he chose bubblegum) and she started brushing his teeth:

She let him hold Mr. Thirsty and he was in charge of suctioning out his mouth:

Once she was done she flossed his teeth and then sat him up to wait for the dentist to come in and finish up.  I kept telling him how great he was doing and the hygienist agreed that he was a model patient.  Pretty soon Dr. Bottone came in and finished up the exam, telling us that his teeth looked great and were nice and strong.  The hygienist told me that they generally don't do x-rays until the kid is five or six so their mouths are big enough.  We scheduled his next appointment for August 11th and then he got to go choose his prize from their treasure chest (he chose a little football).

Once we were done we headed across the parking lot to Trader Joe's so he could pick out a treat and get some dinner.  We got some nice and cheesy mac n' cheese and he wanted some frozen chocolate covered bananas.  I had no trouble obliging since he had done such an awesome job throughout his appointment.  I had been so ready for him to completely melt down and cause a scene.  Sometimes that kid can really surprise me.