In my pre typed blog post I forgot to mention that
Padon had his first dentist appointment on February 19th. It was something that I had wanted to do but was apprehensive of how the first visit was going to go. Unbeknownst to me there is such a thing as a pediatric dentist! Whoopee! We had gotten a flyer in the mail for Apple Pediatric Dentistry, in Stanwood, and they only saw, get this, 12 month olds thru 18 year olds! Rock on! The day before Padon was set to go I saw through Facebook that Greg had just gone, also to a Pediatric Dentist, and Sarah learned that he should have had his first appointment at 12 months. It seems sort of silly when you're like Sophia, almost 14 months old, and you only have 8 teeth but I can understand the importance of knowing that your children have a good healthy dental foundation. With Dental care being free through my insurance we made an appointment for her too, a month after Padon.
I went in with an unnecessary level of anxiety . I so badly needed this appointment to be positive for Padon. I had, had a hurtful dental staff attend to my teeth from the time I was 9 till I was probably about 22 and I wanted Padon to like going to the dentist. I knew it could be fun and it was really important to his health and confidence going forward. Funny enough when Walter and I talked to Padon about going to the dentist, why it was important, and that the dentist was probably going to talk to Padon about sucking his finger, it elicited a passionate response from Padon that had him saying to Walter, in hushed tones, "Daddy, I need to go to the dentist."
So we arrived at the dental office to a kindergarten-esk feel; cartoonish animals stuck on the wall, coloring book pages colored by kids hung on the walls, adult sized chairs positioned so parents could sit and face their children being worked on, and a large picture window facing into the brightly lit dental room so small kids could see the goings on. They called Padon in soon after I filled out all the standard paperwork and I apprehensively sat down in front of Padon, realizing that my smile was genuine but feeling stale, and I wondered if I was getting smile wrinkles from trying so hard to impress upon Padon that I was having a good time so he could have a good time too. Padon was awesome! He put the Kermit the Frog sunglasses on, had no problem with the paper bib (didn't even say anything), and enjoyed talking to the amazing dental hygienist about squirting the water, sucking it up, and how the dentist was going to count his teeth with the little metal hook. He had no problem having his teeth rinsed, kissing the water down the sucking straw, kept his mouth open as the dentist counted his teeth, didn't say a thing when the dentist grabbed his tongue with a cotton swap to see back to his molars, and didn't baulk when the hygienist cleaned his teeth. He commented on how the fluoride didn't taste very good as they wiped his teeth down with it, but he didn't keep the gal from finished the job either. In the end he walked away with a motorcycle toy, two rings, a tooth brush and Sponge Bob Square Pants toothpaste, and strangely enough a hair scrunchy, although we have no idea where he picked that up.
After sitting down with Padon the Dentist asked him how old he was and Padon replied 16. To which we all laughed and the Dentist said, cool you're two years older then me! I immediately loved this Dentist. The dentist was happy to say that Padon had really good looking teeth with no cavities but that he could tell Padon sucked his finger and he recommended we bandage Padon's finger before his 4th birthday, to help deter him from sucking it for much longer. He said if we could stop him from sucking his finger before his 4th birthday the baby teeth would go back to their correct position whereas after his 4th birthday they would start to impact his permanent teeth.
Padon had a really good time, it was a positive experience, and we ended it all by having a delicious breakfast at the Stanwood Cafe and getting Padon's hair cut. I am curious to how Sophia will do and how you work with a 14 month old in a dentist office but I can already feel that I won't be as anxious this time. I really like this office!
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