I thought Lumpyhead's teeth were fine.But the dentist said something like "Yeah, they're perfectly spaced now, but his adult teeth are bigger than his baby teeth and when they come in there won't be room for all of them. He's going to need braces someday."
Lumpyhead's first dental visit was wholly unpleasant. We went to a pediatric dentist, but the practice didn't seem geared for children. There were two toys in the waiting room, along with a small television getting fuzzy reception of the local PBS station. I held Lumpyhead on my lap in a reclining chair and pinned his arms while he howled during the checkup and cleaning. It was quick, but it sucked. Sucked mightily.
Was I rightly traumatized by our first visit, or do I need to quit my bellyaching? I mean on the one hand, it was the dentist, and the dentist always kind of sucks, even under the best of conditions. This dentist was blessedly fast. On the other hand, I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO PHYSICALLY RESTRAIN MY CHILD WHILE HE SCREAMS, OH MY GOD.
Tell me about your dentist visits. Do they suck, too?
In the meantime, check it out:
(Yes, this is mean.)That's Bump's thumb on left, my hand on the right, and the baby's meaty paw in the foreground, trying to bat away those horrid annoying giant hands. And that thing right under my fingernail? That would be a fang.
7 comments:
Our first dentist visit was fine.
Of course, they were 4 1/2 the first time we went.
I think you need a new dentist. Miles has been twice, and he handled it really well. It helped that they had Toy Story playing on tvs pointed at the dentist chairs. And that each kid gets to pick sunglasses to wear so the light isn't too bright. And they get to pick a flavor of flouride. They really have it down. Miles was a little uptight, but no crying and no holding down.
Miles has the same problem re: teeth too close together. I did too as a kid, and they pulled out two permanent teeth on the top when I was eight or nine. Hope L.H. doesn't need that (or Miles either).
Mia refused to let anyone touch her on her first visit. She did agree to let the dentist "count her teeth," but he only made it to four or so before she clamped her mouth shut and that was it. The second time though, she sat on my lap and let them clean her teeth. Both times I scheduled her visit a week or so after my own and took her along to watch at my appointment.
When did Lumpyhead grow and turn into a little boy all of a sudden?
Also, get a new dentist.
Our kid had her first dental visit just a few weeks ago and she was absolutely fine. But she will probably end up needing braces too - when I was a teen I had 4 teeth removed and the remainders are still a bit crowded. It's them Asian genes.
You know, we had a couple bad experiences at the pediatric dentist (same thing - restraining Petunia in the chair while the grumpy old man did his thing) and recently switched her to our family dentist. Much better. The old guy had stickers everywhere and a more "kid-friendly" environment but he was a curmudgeon. Our family dentist has a more sterile, grownup environment (but the necessary "bin of cheap toys" for after the kid finishes his/her appointment) but she had a MUCH better demeanor and successfully distracted Petunia for at least half the appointment. There were some tears but they were never pushy and there was no restraining. Also, they are better about scheduling regular appointments, where the old guy's office always seemed to have computer problems and would never send reminder postcards so a lot of time would lapse between visits.
Gotta go with the group here - you need a new dentist, the one you've got doesn't seem to have kids figured out, our peds dentist told us that he'd never work on a kid if he or she needed to be held down, it just generates more fear for the next visit.
Post a Comment