Eddie's First Trip to the Dentist

Last quarter I finally changed Eddie's UC Davis dependent health insurance from medical only to medical/dental/vision.  It costs a bit more obviously, but I wanted him to start going to the dentist.  I remember when he was a baby I would ask people when they thought it was appropriate to send a kid to the dentist.  Some people said as soon as the first few teeth pop out...isn't that insane?  Most people I know take their kids to pediatric dentists, and those doctors tend to recommend coming in around age 1 or 2.  Personally, it seems like a ploy to make money.

Dave and I decided to wait until we could tell Eddie was "ready" for a "real" appointment.  I can't remember if I posted about this already, but last summer when Dave and Eddie fled Davis for a few days to give me some around-the-clock work time, Eddie had his first visit to the dentist.  Well, as far as he was concerned it was just a visit with his Aunt Dyani (DDS) and a toy haul.  Dyani's boss let him come in for free and he showered him with gifts even though Eddie wouldn't cooperate at all.  Sigh.  I guess the boss' logic is that the first dental visit should be 'unicorns and rainbows' so they associate good things with the office instead of scary noises and creepy people poking around in their mouths.  And he's probably right...but I was dismayed when Eddie came home with like 5 Target Dollar Bin type toys.  Five!

Anyway.

Dave made all of us Bowers dental appointments for a Friday in late December. Eddie and I read books with a sweet six year old girl in the waiting room while Dave got his teeth cleaned.  Then Eddie and I went back for his appointment.  I'd been talking it up the whole week--how the dentist would count his teeth, touch his teeth with tools, and brush and floss his teeth.  

Eddie chose to sit on my lap. He let the hygienist do everything she needed to...even if it did require that she use both flavor options of toothpaste (bubblegum and grape).

Good job, Eddie Pie!  Daddy and I were soooooooo proud of you for being a "bigger boy" at the dentist. 

The dentist said everything looks good and that we need to floss his teeth since they touch.  I guess most kids get cavities because of build-up between the teeth, rather than on brushable surfaces. 

Despite what I thought at first, the flossing thing hasn't been an issue at all.  Eddie lets us floss his teeth every night with a flosser, just like I use.  I guess it's paying off to put up with Eddie hanging out with me in the bathroom every morning while I do my teeth.  

I put a little cup full of flossers in the hall bathroom and he gets to pick one out every night after this bath.  They're all the same, but he sure does contemplate the choice for a while.  

The hygienist told Dave we'd all be having fluoride treatments that day.  She reminded him that it's the paint-on varnish stuff and we'd have to avoid eating hard/sharp foods for the rest of the day.  But because we were going to Joe's Crab Shack to use our nacho coupons and nacho chips qualify as "hard" she just gave us the containers to paint on ourselves some other time.  Dave and I still haven't done ours yet (oops!) but we did paint Eddie's on the next night.

Our tap water isn't fluoridated so he gets drops most nights and the other nights I let him use adult toothpaste that he just swallows to get the fluoride.  Now that I think about it, the dentist didn't even ask us about drops....I'll ask next time to make sure he's getting enough. 

Yay healthy teeth!