A Trip to the Dentist

I took Allison to the dentist today. This was the second time she has been to the dentist, although the first time she went (6 months ago) was one of my worst experiences as a mother. It was a pediatric dentist but they did not know how to handle kids. They tried to force her down to clean her teeth and take x-rays and then they tried to make me leave the room because they thought she would stop crying if I wasn't there. It was so horrible, I just wanted to cry afterwards and I was dreading the next time we had to go to the dentist.

As a result, I decided to switch dentists. This time, Allison visited the dentist that Jeff and I go to. They are not a pediatric dentist but they were SO wonderful. It also helped that Allison is 6 months older than last time and understands more. I've been telling her for a couple weeks now that she was going to the dentist and she was VERY excited (luckily the first time did not leave a negative opinion of the dentist). In fact, one day last weekend she cried for over an hour because she wanted to go to the dentist so bad. Jeff and I tried to explain to her that the dentist office was closed on Sunday. We even drove her by the office to show her that no cars were there (the office is across the street from our neighborhood) but she REALLY wanted to go to the dentist.

So the day was finally here to go visit the dentist and she was SO excited. The technology they have these days is so wonderful. We went back to the chair and met Ms. Debbie, the hygienist. They have tv's in every room for the patients to watch while they get their teeth cleaned. So Allison was very excited to see Noggin (her favorite channel) was on when she entered the room. After Allison sat down in the chair, she told Ms. Debbie how we had read the book "Dora Goes to the Dentist" Ms. Debbie was very happy to hear that. Then she told Allison "We are going to take some pictures of your teeth". So on the TV screen, she put the picture of what the camera was looking at so Allison could see - and she saw a close up of her teeth - She loved it! It was a digital camera so the hygienist just had to get a good angle, click a button and that was it. She didn't have to put that awful film strip in her mouth like we always had to do growing up (you know, the one that dug into the side of your cheek and felt like you were chewing on a piece of plastic?) .

After the pictures, Ms. Debbie put Noggin back on the TV and she introduced Allison to some new friends: Mr. Thristy, Mr. Water Squirter, and Mr. Tickletoothbrush. She was so wonderful at explaining everything that was going to happen before she did it. She counted all of Allison's teeth - 20 of them! But the best part was the chocolate chip cookie dough flavor toothpaste! Where was that when I was a kid??? We had the most awful tasting, gag me flavor. Kids are so lucky these days. Ms Debbie then cleaned Allison's teeth with Mr. tickletoothbrush and Allison did great. Then the dentist, Mr. Rob, came in and checked out her teeth too - he said everything looks good. No cavities. Yeah! Then Miss Debbie had some surprises for Allison. Tell a three year old you are going to give them surprises and their face lights up like a Christmas tree. First she gave her a bouncy ball, then a Cinderella sticker, then a piglet toothbrush, some toothpaste and some fun flossers. You'd think it was a birthday party gift bag or something.
When I was a kid, all I got from the dentist was a toothache. We can't wait to go back in 6 months!