First Visit to the Dentist

Yesterday my little boy visted the dentist.  The office suggested that he just tag along to my appointment so that his part of the exam was at the end of mine.  At first this made me nervous since the dentist is one of my least favorite places and I hadn't been to this one before.  Because it was so close to Thanksgiving, I was worried that we hadn't prepped or talked about it enough in advance but it worked out great.

Honestly they had him won over as soon as we walked in -- a small table with duplos/legos in the waiting area!  During my exam he brought a bag of toys and the hygenist brought in a kid sized chair from the waiting room.  He colored and played with his dinosaurs.  The dinos even went on a vacation to the hallway while they did my ex-rays.  And oh my did they have a roaring good time out there.  It was hard for me not to laugh!

While we waited for his turn, they brought in a new book for him, Berenstain Bears Visit the Dentist, which we read together in the exam chair.  Perfect!  I think the chair made him nervous so I'm glad he was able to spend time on my lap reading, just the two of us.  I have a suspicion that it reminded him of the exam chair in the procedures room where he got his staples...

At first he wouldn't even look at the dentist, but after introductions we talked about how he went to school to learn all about teeth.  Then the dentist told him how many teeth he should have (10 on top, 10 on bottom) and asked if he could count that high.  That was the right question :)  He did great from there on out during the exam.  Of course the fact that they had a tv mounted on the ceiling playing cartoons helped too.

He so excited to get a new Diego toothbrush ("How did they know Diego is my favorite?") and to pick out a prize from the "No Cavity Club" box.  When we got home he rushed to show Dad all his new treasures and informed he got a special toothbrush, but "Mom just got a plain one". 

Showing off his new book, toy, and how he opened his mouth wide for the dentist :)

So thankful to have a positive first experience at the dentist :)