Dallin's first trip to the dentist...

So, a few days after Dallin turned 3 I took him to the dentist for the first time. I know that in all the baby magazines it says "After your child turns 1, you should take them to the dentist for their first check up." Well, being the eager first-time mother that I was, when he turned 1 I looked in his mouth and was stumped. I couldn't figure out the reasoning behind going to to the dentist at age 1: was it to check his 4 teeth that had only been out in the free world for 3-4 months for cavities?!?! I think not. Especially considering his diet consisted of milk, bananas, apples, mixed whole grain cereal and a few veggies. Well then, it must surely have been to get him familiar with the dental procedure so that he would feel comfortable in the big chair as a toddler....right? Wrong! There was no way my 1 year old was going to remember the big comfy chair at the dentist and feel at ease in it 6 months later.

So call me neglectful, call me uncaring, lax, delinquent or abusive. I chose to wait until he was 3 yrs old for his first check up. (Honestly, who takes their kid to the dentist when they are 1? Really, I would like to know. I think its just a ploy and all dentists are in on it...but that post is for another day.)

That morning, we showed up at the dentist and played with all manner of nasty, germ infested toys in the waiting room before venturing into the big chair. The girl that showed us into the room was really nice, I could tell she was inexperienced because she exuded nervousness when trying to talk Dallin into the chair. I was starting to think "Oh, boy....this isn't going to work." Dallin could smell her uneasy demeanor as soon as we walked in. I picked him up and plopped him into the chair. I think she was trying to lighten the mood because she started showing him the instruments....the little mirror and the water gun (he liked those ones, but from there it just went downhill). The next instrument she held up was the buzzer (polisher), the drill and last the best of all the game. The HOOKS they use to dig out and scratch off all the plaque on your teeth. Well, that did it, Dallin was up and out of the chair in 2 seconds flat. This really wasn't going well. I used all manner of trying to coax him back into the chair (except for bribing him with candy...I didn't think that would go over very well) and I started mentally kicking myself for not going to the pediatric dentist down the hill. After a few more minutes, I almost gave up and said never mind just do my teeth instead, but an older woman came in started taking over. Now here was the voice of experience and confidence and Dallin totally responded to that. He let her brush his teeth, polish them with the buzzer and floss them as well. I was SO impressed. This lady did some smooth, fast talking and Dallin walked out of there proud as a peacock because he had been so brave. I was really proud of him.

As we were leaving, the dentist mentioned to me that I should start flossing his teeth everyday.....I did have good intentions. I kept it up for about ...oh....maybe 2 days. I guess it's just going to take some serious cavities to get me serious about dental care, but when you get your first cavity when you are 27 years old...it's hard for me to put it up there on the high priority list, you know? Knock on wood.