In the Hot Seat

Last week I took Christian and Gaby for their first dental appointment. Their pediatric dentist seems very nice and knows how to work with children, as do his hygienists and staff. Because Christian is so brave, he told Gaby to have his teeth X rays taken first. So Gaby obliged, sat in a child size recliner, bit down on the small X ray film, was covered in a small X ray apron with a smiley face on it, and stayed still both times for the special camera in his face. Then Christian went through the same process, except they tried putting the film inside his mouth which made him gag (he's got Mommy's gag reflex).

Then they took turns sitting in another recliner to have their teeth brushed by the hygienist named Beth. They played with and were allowed to put the 'spit sucker upper' inside their mouths. They weren't too crazy about the water streamed into their mouths, though. Afterwards, Christian had fluoride brushed onto his teeth; Gaby didn't because he was too tired.

Finally, the dentist came in and counted their teeth and looked for cavities. He found three cavities in Christian's mouth!! No cavities in Gaby's, luckily. So we go back in June to have those filled and Christian gets to try the 'laughing gas'. I think he'll be a sport; he'll be having too much fun not to. Gaby has a thick membrane between the front teeth which gives him that endearing gap-tooth smile. He may have that clipped sometime in the next couple years to help the permanent teeth come in closer. Of course, the biggest problem with Gaby's teeth is the incorrect bite due to his pacifier habit. The 'chupete fairy' is going to take all his pacifiers and leave him a gift real soon.

I am going to try to teach Christian to floss with his new flosser gadget. They got all sorts of exciting goodies when we left: new toothbrushes, toothpaste, stickers, and flossers. Their first dental visit was stress-free for them. We're off to a good start.