My boys had their first ever dentist appointments in January.
Despite SS's young age and mere eight teeth, I decided to make both boys an appointment at once, since once I remembered to finally make the appointment and then get the boys brushed and fed and dressed and in the carseats and out of the carseats and into the office in one piece and on time, it just made the most sense.
I found a pediatric dentist on Google. While there are many things I get recommendations from other parents and do extensive research on, I decided that the dentist was not going to be one of them. I mean, we only see the dentist once in a great while, so it just wasn't worth the stress. And it worked out great - the dentists are a husband and wife team with kids of their own, which made me feel really comfortable (I had checked out their website beforehand, so I knew that when I picked this office). The office had an awesome play treehouse in the waiting room and the exam room is one big room with several dental chairs, so that siblings and families stick together. Loved it.
And here is my brave little BB, slapping on a smile for the camera despite being quite wary about his surroundings and the impending exam. (Who can blame him? Despite my positive build-up and breezy attitude when explaining the appointment to the boys, I am terrified of the dentist. During cleanings, I grip those armrests like my life depends on it, and I have to remind myself to relax my shoulders every 2 minutes).
SS played while I snapped photos
This photo is a little more reflective of how BB was actually feeling. (The sunglasses are for the bright light they shine during the cleaning - isn't that smart and sweet?)
Once again, slapping on a brave smile for mama.
Here the hygienist showed BB all of her tools and let him feel the brush. She had cute names for everything like the Lightning McQueen spinner brush and her Nemo squirter (or whatever that water squirter thing was called - point is, she clearly tailored her work to kiddos). I was snapping all these photos while holding SS, and he moved right as I took this one - so think of the blur as SS's way of saying Hi!
BB mid-cleaning.
BB was a courageous trooper through the whole experience and I am so very proud of him, especially because I could see how nervous he was.
And here is where I would love to show you photos of SS's first dental exam, except a. he sat on my lap for it and b. he totally cried the whole time (he inherited his mama's fear of the dentist).
SS's teeth are adorably crooked, but that's no big surprise, we have always anticipated braces were in our future. BB has a large underbite - so much so that the dentist kind of freaked out and exclaimed "Is that his bite?!?" and I had to come over and try to figure out if that is, in fact, how his mouth closes. Which is kind of a weird thing to pay that much attention to when you think about it, since it doesn't cause him any problems or anything. I told her that I didn't know (which obviously made me feel like Super Mom, especially since SS was crying in my arms while I mock-examined BB's disbelief-inducing bite). The dentist thought BB was exaggerating the under bite, but I have been watching since the appointment and yes, he does have a very pronounced under bite. So we'll see what she says in 6 months. BB also has sensitive enamel (so does J), which means he is extra sensitive to sugar, so now we know to be extra careful and really only have sweets as a once-in-a-while treat (which was pretty much our routine already).
And that was our first trip to the dentist! I didn't really plan to blog all about their actual teeth issues but well, there they are anyway. Now you know. And the boys each got a new toothbrush, so major score there. I am so proud of how brave BB remained through the whole appointment, and SS was a little trooper too, especially since the appointment overlapped with nap time (and I mean, strangers were sticking weird objects in his mouth, what could we expect? I want to cry at the dentist too).
And we all lived happily ever after.
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