First Dentist Trip

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that you take a child to see a dentist by the time they are 1. Are you kidding me? Can you imagine trying to get Mia to sit there and let them look at her teeth? Ha! Well, at Lily's 2 and 3 year old check-ups, Dr. White asked me if she had been to a dentist yet to which I sheepishly replied "no." It recently dawned on me that we have her 4 year-old check-up in just a couple of months, and I really didn't want to admit again that I hadn't taken her. I didn't expect the visit to go well, but I knew it had to be done. So, last week I called Pediatric Dentistry of Smyrna and made an appointment for Lily at 8:30 this morning with Dr. Aaron Schwartz. This office has been in Smyrna for many, many years (though the two dentists are fairly young), and it is just down the street from us. You may know that Dr. White's office is really close to our home; at the end of the street, there's a gas station and then Dr. White's office. Well, Pediatric Dentistry is before the end of the road...seriously, a minute drive away. I have been talking to Lily about going to visit the dentist since making an appointment. I told her they will look at her teeth, count them and clean them to make sure they are healthy. She didn't really seem sold on the idea, but she didn't fight it. So this morning, we get ourselves ready and off we go with major nerves in my stomach as I envision a massive meltdown coming. If you're wondering what would make me think a meltdown was in the future, check out this previous post of Lily's 3-year-old check-up visit with Dr. White...you'll understand.

I have never been so happy to say I was wrong. Lily did an awesome job! I was so, so, so proud of her! As we walked in, her eyes got really big as she saw the waiting room. They have a carnival theme going on, so there were lots of fun animal paintings on the wall (monkeys, giraffes, elephants), a climbing hole to go through, a stop light that had buttons where you could change the colors, an airplane with a propeller that spins when you push the button and several bead games (see picture below) which Lily really liked. She had a fun time while I filled out paperwork. Then we used the potty (I'm telling you, she is a Smyrna potty connoisseur), and then we were called back.
Ms. Stephanie was the hygienist, and she was very nice. They have a few private rooms on the side, but most of the brightly colored chairs are sitting in row facing a big window; Lily climbed up into the yellow chair when asked. I handed her a toy that she was fascinated by; see the picture below. It was filled with water and beads, and when she pushed a button the beads went flying through the water.

Ms. Stephanie showed Lily the tools she would use to clean her teeth; a tiny spinning toothbrush with toothpaste (Lily chose cotton candy toothpaste over grape toothpaste), a small water squirter and a "silly straw" to drink up the water. She let Lily feel the spinning toothbrush on her finger, watch the water squirt and the straw suck up the water which I think helped Lily feel better about using them (it's as if Stephanie has worked with kids before...). Then she told Lily she was going to lay her down a bit which made Lily's eyes widen a bit and she gripped my hand. Then Ms Stephanie showed her mirror she would use and asked Lily to open wide so we could count her teeth. Lily briefly paused (I really think she took a deep breath) and then opened up. We counted all 20 teeth which Stephanie said looked really good. I was so relieved because I just had this fear she would tell me we weren't brushing good enough...whew! Next, she cleaned Lily's teeth. Lily held the water toy but stared at Stephanie the entire time. Then it was time to floss her teeth which I have never done with Lily; thankfully that went well too. Lastly, she applied a fluoride treatment (or "princess paste" as she told Lily) to her teeth. The hard part was over!

Lily told her thank you and then Dr. Aaron came over and introduced himself to both of us. He asked if I had any concerns, so I mentioned her thumb sucking. He asked Lily to bite down and we could both see her front teeth coming forward as a result of the sucking. He looked inside her mouth and pointed out it was only the front teeth currently affected; the back ones are still in the right place which is good. Lily started getting a little fidgety so he said he would finish the exam and then we would talk more about this. He looked in her mouth again, said he could feel her 6-year molars developing, and declared no cavities. Awesome!

Ms. Stephanie then handed Lily a goody bag with a new toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, stickers and princess wand in it. She also helped Lily down to go over and pick a prize for doing so well; she picked a pink bracelet that says "princess." While she did that, Dr. Aaron and I talked more about the thumb sucking. He said that 3.5 is really the critical time to stop the sucking because of what it is doing to the shape of her mouth before the permanent teeth come in. He recommended a specific nail polish like substance that he said his patients have had great success with, especially when coupled with a rewards system. They have a special "treasure chest" that kids can come by and pick a toy from once they stop sucking their thumbs too. He said how the habit of thumb sucking can be just as strong as cigarette smoking; the chemical changes it makes in a child's brain to calm them are amazing. It won't be easy to change this habit, but I know we need to do it. I would rather do this now then have her endure teasing from other kids; it would be nice if it kept braces out of the picture too. We're going to start this process soon; I'll be sure to keep you updated.

When Dr. Aaron and I finished talking, Lily told him thank you and we went out front to pay. They have 3 or 4 really cool tracks set up for the kids to play with while the adult checks out. Ms Stephanie gave Lily a marble, and she had a blast letting it roll down the different tracks through the various tubes. As we were leaving, I told Lily how very proud of her I was and told her we would come back to see Dr. Aaron in a few months. She immediately said "Yea, and I'll play with the marbles again!"

This was a MUCH better experience than I ever imagined it could be. I am so proud of Lily, and I am so grateful at how great the professionals worked with her. Maybe we won't wait quite as long for Mia to visit (maybe...). Check out this sweet picture of Lily with her goody bag just after climbing out of the chair. She's showing off a mouthful of clean, beautiful teeth!