First Dentist Visit

A few weeks ago we finally took the children to their first dentist visits. And boy do I wish we'd taken Anna before now, as I'm embarrassed to say she has two cavities! We've been brushing and rinsing with fluoride. Honest! In our defense, the dentist says her molars have deep adult-like fissures, which apparently are prime bacteria-growing areas. They gave us a brochure which showed a very magnified photo of how even one toothbrush bristle cannot get inside a fissure to clean out the yuck. They recommended a white sealant to fill-in the crack-like fissures to prevent future cavities. Once we get these cavities taken care of we'll probably do the sealant. I asked if they would need to give her a shot and they said probably not because there are two other options they can use. This is good because I later had to go see this dentist, who gave me a shot which went right up to my eyeball causing blurred vision for a few minutes and turned my sinuses into a virtual waterfall for more than a day. My sinuses are only just now getting back to normal. But I digress.

Otherwise, the dentist said the formations of their teeth and the roofs of their mouths was good, which led me to believe he wasn't going to try to push braces — at least not yet. Alexander had no cavities, thankfully. As soon as he laid down on the dental chair he opened his mouth, even though the hygienist wasn't yet upon him. This might sound a bit eager, but actually he was a bit reluctant, as you might detect from the photos. When the dental hygienist initially tried to clean his teeth, he calmly told her no, he wanted her to do something else (what, I don't know). But after she showed him how the little circular cleaning attachment was so soft against his fingers I guess he finally decided it would be OK for her to try it on his teeth. Of course, both children were psyched about getting to fill up a goodie bag with new toothbrushes, tiny packets of toothpaste, dino flossing sticks and a couple of prizes from the treasure chest. Oh, and they also received certificates for being such good patients! All in all it was a good first dentist visit.

But I definitely will not take Alexander with me to have Anna's cavities fixed.