Monday, January 19, 2009

Dentist

Liz had a dental appointment last Friday. I dreaded it. In past appointments I had to sit with her in the chair and sometimes chase her down and drag her back into the room (hugely pregant with Jacob AND Alaina). One time she pulled off part of the dentist's air hose (and the dentist said brightly, "She's assertive. That's good."). This time went SO much better. Liz giggled when the hygentist brushed her teeth, worked the air hose herself, and at least tried to use fluride trays and get x-rays (before crying).
1 year ago (one moment before she completely
freaked out and I had to sit in the chair with her)
Now. Thank Goodness.
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Pediatric Dentists are AWESOME. Liz got to pick the flavor of the glooves, floss, toothpaste, and fluride. In the waiting room she played with a Leapster. There were other toys in the examine room. When I was a kid I went to a regular family dentist. He was nice, but he certainly didn't have any video games in his waiting room, just the same old books year after year. When my Mom was a kid. She and her brother went to the Dentist by bus, BY THEMSELVES. When Lizzie wimpered and cried during her exam, she got a break and some stickers and a pass on the x-rays till next time. My mother's dentist HIT HER ON THE CHEST when she was difficult for him.
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I asked when I should start bringing Lainey. Before age 1. Oops. I didn't take Liz till she was, like, 18 months old. Oh well. I think I'll wait till Laina has at least one tooth.

4 comments:

Carrie said...

Jill, I'm logged on writing a post and noticed your experience with Liz and the dentist. I agree that pediatric dentists really know how to handle kids. We had to take Seth to one to get his broken tooth pulled and although we had to hold him down, he doesn't remember it being a bad experience. It was the cool train table that made the difference. Our regular dentist has some great hygenists that are very sweet to the little kids. They figure that as long as their teeth aren't getting rotten, that its better to have a positive experience at the dentist. Luke and Seth just sat in the chair and held the small mirror their first few times. What is amazing is that both of those kids are fighters. Breaking them in was the best technique for us.

Ryann said...

I never took mine until they were three. They won't even see kids here until they are three. OH well.

Glad it went so much better this time!

Ben said...

Hey you guys, I just came upon your blog. It's cool to see what everyone's up to! Hope all is well!

Sarah said...

Oh no...Ethan is scheduled to go to the dentist in a couple of weeks. We haven't been for a year and a half. I'm a little nervous. Hopefully he's a bit older and not so squirmy this time. And luckily it is a pediatric dentist.

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