Today the boys had their very first dental appointment. I figured I'd get Matthew in about the time he started kindergarten but when I asked how old they needed to be before a first appointment, I was told, "Whenever they will willingly open their mouth, bring them in!" Ben's such a good little patient that I figured he'd be okay, so off we went today. I found someone to stay here while Anna napped, so that was one less little person to keep track of. We also had to drop Rob off for his very firstest day of seminary...I just like planning EVERYTHING all at once!
Anyway, we arrived and the boys tried playing with the giant frogs, the wall fountain, and the bathrooms (you know, anything but the toys in the play area) while I checked them in. Thankfully, I had all their paperwork filled out having received it when I set up the appointment. I can't imagine what I would have done if I had to fill out TWO sets of dental papers along with keep track of them!
Then we all met Miss Emily. The boys took right to her and followed her back to her exam room. She was very, very good with them. They got a little tour of the room and saw all of her tools. She showed them how the spit vaccuum worked and even let them try it out on a little glass of water. Ben volunteered to go first, although both boys sat on the chair. Matthew watched cartoons and Ben's exam off and on, even going so far as to get his head nearly in the way of Miss Emily working! Ben was an excellent patient and Miss Emily said he may have been her best patient ever (seriously, not just trying to be nice about it!) He has good teeth, evenly spaced, and no problems.
Matthew then jumped up for his turn. He was excited to work the spit vaccuum (Ben got to work it as well) and opened his mouth wide. He's a pretty lousy patient at the doctor's office, but the dentist was no problem. She did say he has a tiny bit of plaque, but not to worry about it. He also had a deep bite that they will keep an eye on and his adult molars are starting to show up. But the biggest news was this little piece of skin at the top middle of his mouth and bottom middle. Miss Emily told me that it may have to be cut back when he gets older and.....here's the big news....that extra skin causes latching problems as an infant. Usually, a hospital will cut it back on an infant so they can nurse better. WHAT?????? After thinking through endless reasons why my children couldn't nurse, finally settling on "it must be me" we have the answer. Rob checked Anna and hers is just as pronounced as Matthew's. Huh. Obviously there's no going back and I raised three healthy, happy infants on the bottle but it's nice to finally know what happened. And if God gives us another one, I know what to look for at birth!
And then they met the dentist, who confirmed all of the hygenists finds. The boys picked out toothbrushes and toys, hugged Miss Emily (who declared them a hoot) then we trooped to the front to pay. Matthew summed up the visit quite nicely, "The dentist is fun!" That's good, because we go back on March 11th. :)
4 comments:
Glad their first dentist appts went well! Sela went back all by herself for her first one--because I had all three kids with me. I think they even did x-rays. Fortunately she did fine, because there was no way I could have finagled all three kids into the examining room, I'm sure.
And bummer about the frenulum. I've heard soooooo many stories about babies with poor latch, mommies with really sore nipples, etc., because of tongue-tie or a tight frenulum. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem very common for hospitals or even pediatricians to figure out that that's the problem until it's too late for the babies to get the hang of nursing. I know that with some kids it's not diagnosed until they're old enough to start having speech problems, and then the speech therapist figures it out.
Great that the dentist appt went well. But what a bummer about the nursing part. Doctors and hospitals are great for alot of things, but they do come up short on others. bummer.
wow - great job boys! Somehow I have my doubts Eóin will do that well. trying to keep his mouth open long enough to brush his teeth is torture enough. Not that he hates it - just gets bored after two seconds!
I've got to get my kids to the dentist too!
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