To the Dentist!

Friday the kids had their semi-annual dental checkups. Yes, you read that right, BOTH kids go to the dentist. When Jack was born everything I researched and heard said three years of age for that first dental checkup. By the time Emilie arrived that tune had changed and my pediatrician recommended getting her in roughly six months after her first tooth erupted….for most kids this is around age 1. So when Jack went in for his second dental exam at 3.5, Emilie went for her first…she was 15 months old.

For me regular dental checkups are a must. Maybe it’s because my parents always got us in regularly as kids. Maybe it was all the orthodontia I went through as a child. Maybe it’s knowing that so many other health conditions can be reflected in the condition of your teeth. Whatever it is I want my kids to have good oral hygiene and not be intimidated by going to the dentist. (My other ‘must’ for the kids is knowing how to swim. Yea, swimming and healthy teeth…call me quirky)

Often, when talking to other moms, the purpose for starting your child at the dentist so young is questioned. Usually there are accusations of the dentist’s just wanting to make money off of you. It’s not like they are going to clean your 1 year olds teeth you know? The truth is no, they are not going to clean your kids teeth at that age (unless your kid is super cool about that stuff). However, they are going to cover a lot of things with you. They are also going to inspect your kid’s mouth for physical issues and check for cavities. Plus, they will probably apply a fluoride treatment to help prevent cavities and weakened enamel.

At this visit Jack was a superstar! On our trip last July he pretty much cried through the whole thing and all the dentist got was a quick look and enough time to put fluoride on. This time Jack sat through two sets of x-rays, a cleaning, an exam, AND the fluoride application! He also discovered a new machine to love….the dental chair. He was so excited that it rose up and down. It only took him one ‘ride’ to observe the hygienist and figure out how she was operating this most marvelous of chairs and after that he just wanted to use that foot pedal and drive the chair himself.

As for his mouth, he still has the two spots of weakened enamel on his upper molars, but they are just that and haven’t become cavities. The only issue with him is that the Dr. is now pretty sure one of his second molars is ankylosed. For now it’s just “wait and watch.” Most likely it will cause problems when it’s time for the permanent molar to come it and may have to be pulled.

As for Emilie, she has great teeth. The Dr. said her spacing is about as close to perfect as it can get right now. The attachment between her upper gum and top lip is thinning as she grows and definitely isn’t causing problems with speech (this was something from her first visit that the dentist wanted to keep an eye on). They tried to see if she’d do x-rays, but while she would bite the film like they hygienist wanted, she didn’t quite grasp needing to hold it between her teeth. At least, not long enough to snap the picture anyway. Next time I suppose.

Both kids were thrilled to pieces over their new toothbrushes. They wanted them opened and out of the box as soon as we got back in the car. The stickers  and tokens for the prize machine were exciting as well! Kevin wins an award for taking off work early to help me wrangle kids. As a reward for everyone being so good we took the kids to Kiwi Loco (frozen yogurt) on the way home.

Yes, I see the irony in taking the kids to get what is essentially ice cream after you go to the dentist. Kevin did too. He even said to me, “I was going to say something about taking the kids here (Kiwi Loco) after going to the dentist…but then I thought about how Mom always used to stop and get us (Kevin, his brother, & sister) Slurpees at the 7-Eleven after our trips to the dentist, and we turned out okay.”

So frozen yogurt post-dentist it is……