5 Dental Visits

5 times.  Yep, in 6 weeks we went to the dentist 5 times!

DENTAL VISIT NUMBER 1
Scarlett and I went to get our teeth cleaned at Great Expressions.  It was her first cleaning and they were great with her.  They let her run the suction straw, she got to wear cool shades, and they let her give Marshall a little cleaning too (this was prior to Marshall's new blue collar - see all the glow sticks around his neck!)

Then it was my turn.  I brought my bite guard so they could look it over and deep clean it.  The dental hygienist told me in the 20 years she's been working she's never seen a bite guard with wear grooves as deep as mine.  I told her that this was my third guard cause my first two I bit into pieces.  She was so amazed that she left a note for the dentist:

The dentist told me that my bite guard probably won't last much longer.  She's seen bite guards get cracked before a few times - but they were like 250+lb men, not a little girl.  And not 3 different guards in 6 years.  She told me that I really do have a super power - super bruxism!  Take a bite out of crime!  haha!  I also learned that clenching causes gum erosion and that tartar is also called calculus!

DENTAL VISIT NUMBER 2
I had a small cavity that needed to be filled.  I told them I was frustrated cause I am diligent about my dental care and I always have cavities.  She told me it's probably from my asthma meds that cause dry mouth.  Even though I can't stop my meds, it made me feel better to think that it's not my fault.

DENTAL VISIT NUMBER 3
Scarlett had 2 cavities on her top back molars and the family dentist told me that we should go to a pediatric dentist cause they are not really equip for kids in their office.  I'm glad they were honest and the dentist even gave me a recommendation that wasn't affiliated with their office.

I was so impressed with her new dentist, Dr. Sam.  He has an additional two years of schooling in pediatric dentistry and it is very apparent.  He was so patient and kind.  He had all these gizmos just for kids and he was so great at explaining each step to her before doing anything.  This visit was just to assess what the issue was and get xrays so we could make a game plan for her next visit.

Scarlett was awesome!  She was so still during her xrays, but the back teeth were hard for her.  She kept gagging out the sensor.  So the dentist had me sit in the chair with a lead vest on, then they put Scarlett on my lap with her vest on.  Then he put on a vest and, while I held her hands under her vest, he stood and held her mouth in the right position.  It was uncomfortable for Scarlett but with our help she was able to do it without even crying.

After her xrays I told her I would take her to McDonalds play place (a real luxury during the boring winter).  It was a fun family outing.  I took the twirls up inside the playplace and took them down the slides.  It's so funny cause whenever I climb in the playplace the other kids will come up to me and tell me their life stories: "I'm 5 years old now cause I had my birthday."  "My turtle is named Chuck."  "I am a big sister."  I have no idea why.  I think they are confused at me - I kind of look like an adult but I have pink hair and I'm the size of a kid... I think they just don't know how to categorize me.  I often see little girls staring at my hair when we are out.  Haha!  I can remember every single person with pink in their hair when I was a kid (Baby Spice, Megan Draper in 8th grade, P!nk) luckily it's a lot more socially acceptable these days (right?!)

The twirls were kind of impressed with the slide, but they really enjoyed putting the straw in the juice box over and over.  Silly girls!

DENTAL VISIT NUMBER 4
We finally got Scarlett's cavities filled.  On the way to the appointment I got pulled over for turning left during a red light.  I am POSITIVE it was yellow when I went through.  POSITIVE.  Turns out the cop wasn't even close to the light, he was down the street going another direction but thought since I was in the intersection when it was red that I went too late.  What really happened is the people in front of me slid in the snow and basically stopped so I was a sitting duck for a few extra seconds.  I don't think he ever thought I was right even though I know I was.  Luckily he only gave me a warning cause my "perfect driving record goes a long way."  Ironically when I was turning left at that light I thought to myself "It's not worth running a red when you're trying to go somewhere fast cause getting pulled over will take way longer than just waiting for the next green light."  It's something my mom would say all the time and for whatever reason it popped in my head right then.  Maybe I'm psychic!  Or maybe sometimes I can overhear my guardian angles talking about what's coming up next???

Finally we got into the office.  They put Scarlett in the chair and turned on Frozen.  He gave her the "piggy nose" to help calm her.  Then he used a topical numbing cream on a q-tip to numb her gums.  After that was working he gave her the shot.  He uses a cool device that gives the shot with a pump so the actual part he puts in her mouth just looks like a pencil with a little needle at the end.  It is way less scary looking than the traditional shot.  She didn't even flinch when he was giving it to her.   He told her he was putting her "tooth to sleep" so he could fix the "sugar bites".

After she was all numb they began working on her teeth.  They use a blue rubber guard that prevents her tongue from getting in the way and nothing can fall down her throat.  Only a few teeth stick out of the rubber to work on.  I was impressed that even with this guard they put dental floss on the metal  clamp ring to help catch it from falling down her throat.  It's 2 levels of security (or a safety factor of 2) which most dentists don't do.  In fact, I had a dentist when I was a kid who had a safety factor of 0 and actually dropped the metal ring down my throat.  I had to gag it back up and it scraped up my esophagus.

Before Dr. Sam would use any new tool on her teeth he would show it to her and explain what it was.  He would even hold the back of the drill on her hand (not the spinning part) so she could feel the vibrations before he put it in her mouth.  He was so patient too!  Once she started touching the rubber piece on her cheek and I asked him if he wanted me to hold her hands down.  He said no, that it's normal for them to be curious and she wasn't in his way.  I was impressed with his attitude toward her.  He sang along to all the Frozen songs too!  haha!

Once when he was taking out everything from one side (to set up for the second cavity) we heard Scarlett say something.  I thought she was saying "mom".  So Dr. Sam pulled out the rubber guard and asked her what was wrong.  She said "singing ABCD" haha!  Yep, she felt like breaking into song right then.  That laughing gas is effective!  When he took everything out of her mouth at the end so looked at me and said "I need to go potty RIGHT NOW!" so I carried her to the bathroom just in time.  She was so still and really a stellar patient!  They let her pick TWO toys out of the bins cause she was so awesome!!!

DENTAL VISIT NUMBER 5
So Dr. Sam told us that insurance will start covering their cleanings when they turn 1.  He likes to see them starting then, even if they can't do a full cleaning they can at least get a look at the teeth.  Then by the time the kids are 3 years old and probably need a real cleaning they've been to the dentist like 4 times and (hopefully) are more used to it and less scared of the process.

So we came back - again - for the twirls.  I asked my friend Emily to help me.  She met me there (it was an awful snow storm too!) and she sat in the waiting room with Scarlett and one of the twirls while I took the other one back to get worked on.

First I took Jaide back.  I wasn't sure how he was going to hold her in the exam chair.  But instead he had me sit knee to knee with him and we held her on our laps.  Jaide was totally chill for most of the visit.  He just quickly brushed her teeth with a baby toothbrush, then looked over everything in her mouth with a mirror.  That was it!  Not too bad...

...or so we thought!  Siena was not having any of this.  She started screaming before he even touched her.  Luckily Dr. Sam is a pro and was quick at looking over everything.  They both look great.  Just keep doing what we're doing.  We went in the waiting room and Jaide was having a melt down for Emily.  So ya, we were pretty loud.  We got the heck out of there as fast as we could!  Which wasn't really that fast cause everyone had coats, boots, clean up our stuff, check out, and figure out how to take them out in the snow.  I think Jaide continued to cry at me the whole drive home!  I was seriously grateful for Emily's help and her patience!  I think I might wait a while before asking her for help again...  Oh and I asked Dr. Sam about binkies.  He said that research has shown that their teeth/bite will be fine as long as they stop using the binky by age 4.  Whoo hooo!!!  I can totally do that!  I was worried that we needed to stop using it soon and I'm not ready to give up the 12 hour night time sleep stretches.  But maybe in the next year or two....

We got home and I let the twirls chew on their new toothbrushes.  A real luxury.  I don't let them hold their toothbrushes at night (mostly cause when I try and take it back they will throw a tantrum) so playing with these was a special reward.  Scarlett pulled a new bouncy ball from her coat.  I asked her where she got it.  "From the box at the dentist."  Oh no.  Did she take it without asking?  I was trying to get a straight answer from her but each time she replied she seemed guilty.  I was prepared to give her a lecture on asking for permission, but I decided to call the office just in case.  The receptionist answered and she told me that she gave it to Scarlett for being so good - and she was a big sister so she knows how it is hard sometimes.  I really appreciated her thoughtfulness.  Scarlett was off the hook.  You might think I'm a strict parent for calling in the first place, oh well.  It was mostly based on Scarlett's reaction to my questions about the ball.  She seemed really guilty like she knew she did something wrong.  I just didn't want to let it go if there was an opportunity to help her learn and grow - and help prevent a life of crime! ;-)

The twirls were so excited about using their toothbrushes - they thought I should join in on the fun.  I used my "selfie" camera on my phone and they girls liked watching themselves.  I have never had so much baby slobber in my mouth before.  Luckily they were being super cute cause it was pretty disgusting.