First pediatric dentist appointment

Although it is now recommended that children first see a dentist by age one, I had always wondered how a dentist could possibly clean the teeth of an uncompliant toddler. Very quickly, very carefully and with a lot of patience for screaming I discovered.

When I filled out the form detailing Oliver's dental history and came upon the question asking if there was any other information that would be valuable for the dentist to know, I wrote, "Oliver will probably scream the entire visit."
The pediatric dentist had Oliver sit on my lap facing me with his legs straddling my waist. She put a towel over her lap and then had Oliver lay down with his head on her lap and she hunched over him and worked on his teeth. He screamed bloody murder and I had to hold the poor little guy's arms down, but she was able to examine his mouth, count his teeth, (he's up to 10!) and then even clean them. I was relieved she was able to scrub away the stains that had prompted me to finally take him for his first appointment. She finished with an application of fluoride and the whole process was over with in minutes. Oliver spent as much time calming down from the whole interaction as he did actually having his teeth cleaned.

Other than the part of having his teeth cleaned, Oliver liked everything about his visit to the dentist. He got to ride an elevator and run up and down a hallway on the way to her office and the waiting area was a toddler's dream hang-out area with its colorful kid-sized tables, chairs and arm chairs, shelves full of books and toys and a wall-size chalkboard. Oliver pointed at the chalkboard and said, "Oh, oh" and almost couldn't believe it when I said he coud draw on it. His only previous experience drawing with chalk has been outdoors on the sidewalk. He started to cry when we went back to the exam room, but there was another bucket of toys waiting for him and before we left, he got to pick a toy out of the stash in the Radio Flyer wagon stowed behind the receptionist's desk. He wanted to look at and handle each kind of toy, but finally settled on a car.
Oliver's visit to the dentist was as humbling for me as it was reaffirming. Chris and I hadn't bothered putting Oliver on our dental plan, because we originally thought dental insurance for a baby was pointless. (And this is from someone who believes whole-heartily in preventative care.) But how quickly they sprout a bunch of teeth and grow up into little kids.

It was nice to hear that some of the habits I've been a stickler about enforcing (no juice, milk only at meal times, getting rid of the bottle) actually make a difference. (I came clean that Oliver still uses a pacifier, but thankfully didn't receive a lecture about that.) But I learned that despite thinking I was doing the whole teeth-brushing thing properly with Oliver, I could be doing it better. I had been trying to walk that fine line between letting Oliver "brush" his own teeth (really all he does is suck on the toothbrush) and helping him afterwards, but without pushing too hard for fear I'd create a bad association with brushing. The result was improper brushing that allowed grayish/brown staining to form along the top portion of his teeth (main culprit was probably fruit, especially berries). A really thin layer of clear, gum-like tissue had made it difficult for the bristles to properly brush near the gum line. In addition to recommending I bite the bullet and buy Oliver a high-quality electric toothbrush because it's more efficient, she showed me how to hold Oliver so I could brush his teeth better. Let's just say that Oliver has not taken willingly or quietly to the more thorough brushing routine, but I'm hoping, hoping he adjusts soon.