5th Time's the Charm

There are two days of every year that I absolutely, positively DREAD.  I mean, I'd rather go through childbirth again with no epidural.  I hate these two days so much, that I begin dreading them six months in advance.  As the day gets closer, I begin dreading it even more.  And in the last month before The Day, I think about it non-stop.  It becomes all consuming.  Of course, I am talking about Ian's and Eli's 6 month dental check-ups.

We go to a pediatric dentist and the staff and Dr. Hemann are FANTASTIC!!!!  I can not stress this enough.  The staff is incredible and know how to deal with children.  I first took Ian to the dentist when he was 14 1/2 months old.  It was right before Christmas, and Eli slept through the entire appointment.  It was one of my first two-kid adventures.  And it was horrible.  Ian totally freaked the hell out.  It was unbelievable.  But we went back six months later, and this time we put Eli in the chair as well.  (Yes, Eli cut teeth at six months.)  This appointment was again hellacious as far as Ian was concerned, but Eli was fine.  Then we came back six months later, and that appointment was beyond disastrous.  BE. YOND.  DIS. AS. TER.  I had to hold the boys on my lap one at a time, and an assistant had to hold them down on top of me in order to get ANYTHING accomplished.  NOTE:  Ian has "sticky spit" and needs to be seen on a regular basis to keep his teeth from discoloring.  We took plenty of breaks, and the hygienist was so patient, gentle, and kind.  But it was still absolutely horrific.  There was out of control screaming, yelling, kicking, thrashing, bawling, dry heaving, etc.  Keep in mind, the boys only get their teeth cleaned.  They don't have any decay or problems of any kind.  The next time was just as bad only Eli clamped down on the hygienist's finger and wouldn't let go.  She could not get her finger out of his mouth.  It was absolutely wretched.

Today was Ian's 5th six month check-up and Eli's 3rd.  I had been obsessing over this appointment for weeks. I never even mentioned it to the boys; I kept it all inside.  Some parents dread immunization day.  Hey, I don't like it either, but I would rather sit through 1,000 immunizations before sitting through a cleaning.  A shot is quick and easy.  A cleaning?  It's an hour, MINIMUM, of restraining/consoling thrashing, screaming children who may or may not puke on you at any moment.

So, when we were called back for our appointments I told the hygienist, who was new to us, "I have to warn you, my kids hate this.  I don't mean, they don't really like this; I mean, they absolutely HATE doing this.  It's bad."

She replied, "Uh, yeah.  I saw that in their charts."

Yep.  My boys hate it so much that they have been "tagged" in their charts.  Honestly, it's probably why we had a new hygienist.  Our regular hygienist probably saw today's schedule and went home "sick."

We decided to let Eli go first.  I climbed into the chair and snuggled the little man on my lap.  We got all into position, and I braced myself.  Then something weird happened.  It was the easiest doctor's appointment, of any kind, that we have EVER had!  He never flinched, thrashed, shed a single tear, jerked, yelled, whined, or anything else.  He was absolutely perfect!!!!  I was so shocked at the end of the cleaning I couldn't even put into words how surprised I was.  We finished our appointment 10 minutes ahead of schedule because we never needed a single break to douse Eli with holy water.  I was blown away.

Ian was up next.  When Ian came over to the chair, he just hopped right up into it.  I asked if he could get up so I could sit down first, and he told me that he wanted to sit by himself.  Uh, pardon me Ian?  Speak into my good ear?  No, he really wanted to sit by himself.  So the hygienist got him a booster seat, and the rest was history.  He never flinched, thrashed, shed a single tear, jerked, yelled, whined, or anything else.  He was absolutely perfect!!!!  I was so astounded by the end of HIS appointment that I talked to the hygienist about it for a very long time while waiting for the dentist to come check things out.  We finished Ian's appointment early as well, and we were out of the office 20 minutes ahead of schedule!!!  HOLY COW!!! I have been walking on air ever since.

Since the boys were such champs, we came home with lots of goodies!  Brushing charts, tooth brushes, floss, Flosser Man, stickers, and super heroes.....  You can make personalized brushing charts for your kids, too!

 The Loot

This little dandy is "Flosser Man."  Kind of looks like a person, right?  Well, Ian's teeth are starting to get closer together in the back, so Cole and I have the distinct privilege of flossing his teeth every night.  You have to wind new floss everyday, and the winding/wrapping/threading routine is slightly ridiculous, but if it keeps me from getting bitten, then Flosser Man to the rescue!  He really didn't mind it today, so I think we'll be fine.

So, all in all, we had a FABULOUS day at the dentist.  No decay or any other problems of any kind.  We go back in July, and I'm hoping that the appointment will go just as well as today.  But talk to me in June and we'll see if I'm still as optimistic.