I was dreading Katie's dentist visit. We have never had a good one, and the stress of the last two literally took about three years off my life expectancy. Our history at the dentist has involved tears, screams, anguish, and forehead-tapping (thanks to an awful dentist that we have since left). Today was Katie's checkup. I scheduled it for a day when Jackson was at Parents' Day Out, and planned ahead to have my own cleaning first. I figured if she saw me do it, she wouldn't be afraid. Of course that meant I had to keep my own fears inside and be the big adult. Ugh!
My cleaning went just fine. Thank God I didn't have cavities, because there is no way I could pretend to be a model patient if I was getting drilled. Katie watched my cleaning from a hygenist's stool and kept Denise (my hygenist) busy talking the whole time. She asked all kinds of questions about what Denise was doing and why, and asked why I have black in my teeth (fillings). When the dentist came in at the end, Katie was allowed to sit on my chest and look into my mouth while the dentist did the once-over. I wish I had a photo of that!
Katie's cleaning was awesome. She met Nancy (her hygenist) and bounced on back to the x-ray room. I thought sitting in the chair would be enough to start the tears (the chair has been an issue in the past), but there wasn't even a tremor of fear. She got her teeth x-rayed and Nancy allowed her to go back into the darkroom with her to develop the film. We moved on to the cleaning. Katie let Nancy polish her teeth with raspberry-flavored paste, and held the suction tube herself. She didn't like the gritty paste in her mouth (I always hate that stuff, so I don't blame her), but otherwise did fine. Nancy flossed her teeth then the dentist came to check her. He scraped some tartar off, and I saw her physically cringe and flinch a few times. I was expecting a
protest, but then watched her literally take a breath and relax herself while the dentist finished. I was amazed. The last part was fluoride application, which was the worst part of all. Katie didn't like the sticky feel on her teeth, but only whined about it - no tears or screams. She picked out a pink balloon and two stickers, and we were done. I actually had tears in my eyes because I was so grateful that the visit went well. I was so proud of Katie! She kept telling me "I'm so brave!" and repeated it to strangers at different stores throughout the rest of the day.We went straight from the dentist to McDonald's, even though it wasn't even 11am yet. But she wanted to eat and get the sticky fluoride feel off her teeth, and I told her she could pick anywhere she wanted to eat because she did so well at the dentist.
Later in the day, she got her big treat. I promised her a donut if she behaved at the dentist, so I took her to the local donut shop and let her pick one to eat. (She loves the donut shop, thanks to Daddy's influence.) Here's my brave, sweet, chocolately girl eating her just reward.
1 comment:
I know what you mean about the screaming at the dentist. This is the first year the buddies haven't screamed and it was NICE! We always have to wait thirty minutes after the fluoride treatments, so they don't get to eat out on those days. Looks like a great visit!
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