Entries in Dentist (4)
THE Mommy
Our 2 year old, BamBam, went for his first dentist appointment today. In case you haven’t been following along, I felt like the Loser Parent of the Year when I took 5 year old Princess for her first visit and found out that she had 7, yep, 7 cavities…and ended up getting a crown put on one of her molars.
I had very low expectations today for BamBam’s visit. He is still not letting me help him brush on a regular basis. BusyDad recommended declaring war on the “Tooth Germ Army” setting up camp in his mouth. Cool idea, loved it. Yep, that worked for a day. There have been times when I’m tempted to try Joeprah’s approach of intimidation and hitting…but I’m pretty sure certain he was just kidding.
I must say that The Kid’s Dentist is awesome. I don’t think they’re a chain, but I would highly recommend finding someone who markets being "kid friendly" near you. They’ve spent a lot of time and creativity pimping out their office. BamBam was sooo in awe of the birds and the snake in the waiting room. (I got a little nervous when we couldn’t find the snake in his cage, but they assured me he was hiding somewhere in there!) He wore his special sunglasses and opened wide like a shark. My little man charmed the heck out of the technician and let her count his teeth, scrape plaque, shoot water into his mouth and use “Mr. Thirsty” to suck everything up. He made his Mommy proud.
And, the good news, he doesn’t have any cavities!
Isn’t that the reason why you have more than one kid? You learn your lessons by messing up on the first one and do things (somewhat) right the next time around? Oooo…I should add that to my reasons why we SHOULD have a 3rd…maybe we’d succeed at keeping that one in his/her own bed all night! Really screwed that one up with Princess and BamBam!
Anything within the parenting realm that you’d like to do differently if you got a “do over” with a next child? Anyone with 3 (or more) kids want to share reasons why we should/should not have another? Please leave a comment.
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Princess had her two worst cavities filled this morning. I am so happy with “The Kid’s Dentist”, I could kiss them all! They were fabulous with her. They turned the scariest experience of her life into an adventure. Seeing her so comfortable definitely eased my nerves.
They have a resident dog who greeted us at the door. The waiting room included a kid’s nook with a snake (ick), birds and fish. The surgery room was done up better than most kid's bedrooms in Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. She had the safari room, very cool. They gave her goofy sunglasses to wear. They had scented nose masks for the nitrous oxide…she picked grape. They described everything they were doing during the procedure…in kid friendly terms.
Her molars were pretty bad and it took them over an hour. The cavities were advanced and they ended up having to put a crown on one of her molars. It’s silver. Luckily, 5 year old Princesses think that jewelry on teeth is pretty…especially when it’s called a “crown”. She’s in a little pain right now and half of her face is still numb. I hate that feeling. I gave her a little Tylenol and some Arnica.
We stopped at WalMart on the way home and bought a new Disney Princess movie…and a new blanket…and a new doll. No, I’m not feeling at all guilty *wink*.
I found out that they will work with kids as little as 2 years old. You betcha...BamBam will be going next week for his first cleaning and fluoride treatment. THAT should be interesting. He will sit still for Daddy and let him brush his teeth for 5 minutes. Mommy? Not so much. He gets really p.o.’d and tries to bite me. Grrr.
Still looking for ideas on how to get him to brush. If you have anything beyond the norm to share, please leave a comment.
I realized that I won the LOSER Parent of the Year Award about a month ago at Princess’ first dentist appointment. They scheduled the major cavity in her molar to be filled just after Thanksgiving. Well, she’s been complaining that it hurts to chew on one side of her mouth, so I called to get her appointment moved up to tomorrow.
Yikes, I’m really, really nervous. They’re going to give her nitrous oxide…my poor baby. I could probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve ever had to give her Tylenol. She’s only needed an antibiotic once and she’s 5 years old. We usually stick to homeopathic and/or herbal remedies. Did I say that I am really, really nervous? And THE Daddy is away for work again...grrr.
I’ve researched nitrous oxide online and couldn’t find anything too scary. Anyone have any experience with their kids needing to use it?
Oh, and a word of advice for those of you with toddlers. Apparently letting them chew on the tooth brush doesn’t count as brushing teeth. I guess you need to play adult and get inside there for a more thorough cleaning afterwards. Who da thunk it?! Would have been nice to know that 2 years ago!
Seriously, we did brush with her...sometimes. Seems THE Daddy had “soft teeth” and tons of cavities as well. Also, we have well water with no fluoride. Hey, if you can blame someone else…why blame yourself, right?
Today I officially won the LOSER Parent of the Year Award.
Princess had her first dentist visit today and has 7 CAVITIES! She just turned 5 years old. I didn’t have a cavity until I was well into my 20’s…what gives?!? This is my first child. She’s the sheltered one. The one who didn’t even know what chocolate was until well past her second birthday. The one who had whipped cream and blueberries on her first birthday cake because I didn’t want to expose her to the evils of sugar. She hasn’t even begun losing her baby teeth and her molars are rotting away.
I know what you’re thinking…brush the kid’s teeth every once in a while, will ya?! She brushes her teeth every morning and evening (with her Princess toothbrush…the one that spins). She’s even recently gotten into flossing and swishing around a fluoride rinse. She has barely had more than a sip of soda in her entire 5 years and doesn’t really eat many sweets. I’m floored.
I kept meaning to take her to the dentist, but was dreading the drama of the ordeal and she seemed to be doing a good job with her brushing, so I kept putting it off. When we got back from my friend’s wedding a few weekends ago, I noticed a dark spot on one of her molars and decided to make an appointment. We went to a “kid’s dentist” in town and they were fabulous with her. I, however, got the polite smile and look they reserve for the loser moms who can’t be bothered to take care of their children’s teeth. They told me that I should help her more with brushing...you think?! Tell that to Miss Independent.
To make matters worse, BamBam, the second child, the one I’ve been much more lax with has been EVIL lately when trying to get him to brush his teeth. He won’t brush them himself, not with a regular baby toothbrush, not with the cool spinning car one either. This is the only topic that doesn’t interest him in “being like sissy”. She’s even tried to teach him. He won’t let me anywhere near his mouth and practically bit me yesterday when I tried to force my way in. Oh, but he’ll let THE Daddy do it. THAT does little good since he is traveling from Mon-Fri for the next 6 weeks. AGHH!
Any intelligent suggestions on how to get a stubborn 2 year old to brush? I'm pretty creative, but I've used every trick in my book so far.
Even bigger question…any advice on the use of nitrous oxide? Apparently, it’s the drug of choice for dental procedures in kids…and she’s getting all 7 cavities filled in 3-4 visits over the next few months. The dentist brushed it off like, “dude, everyone does it”…but we don’t usually take that path. Case in point: vaccinations. Luckily, initial searches on google aren’t turning up anything too scary.
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