Yesterday was a great day, my parents decided to come and visit for the day. I am lucky that they only live an hour and a half away – still too far away, but its manageable. The day they came couldn’t have been better timed as it was the day I was taking Emily to the dentist for the first time, well I say the first time we did take her not long after her first birthday to get an upper frenulum checked out. But this was the first proper trip to the dentist.
I had made the dentist seem like a great person before we went, telling her that he would count all her teeth and she would get a sticker if she was a good girl. I kept asking her what to do when the dentist said to open your mouth and she kept opening it and going arrrhhh. She would then talk about Peppa Pig going to the dentist and asked if she would be allowed the pink drink. Once I had told her we were going to go and see the dentist she then kept asking can we go yet. She seemed a little excited despite it being the unknown.
I am a bit of a chicken when it comes to going to the dentist and I am one of these people who avoid going, I would rather go and see a doctor than a dentist. As I don’t drive my mum was able to drive us to the dentist and also assist with E, I didn’t quite know what to expect, how she would react let alone how I would be with my check up. When we got there E was quite happy to play with all the toys in the waiting room whilst I filled in forms.
We were called in to see the dentist and E went very quiet and the dentist was so nice with her, I said to her what do you do when the dentist wants to look in your mouth and she opened it wide and said arrghh. I went first, trying to be brave but worrying what was coming next, a general check up and he said he would do X-rays once my daughter was finished. So up she climbed onto the big chair and we made a joke about her going for a ride on the chair, I asked her if she wanted mummy to hold her hand and she said no, she wanted Grandma. She was very brave, the dentist checked her teeth and told her how clean they were and then she was allowed to choose her sticker, my mum told me later that she held on tight and her little body was rigid. She survived her first visit and seemed quite happy to have seen the dentist!
They left the room and went back to the waiting room to play whilst I had my x-rays done, unfortunately I have to go back as I have a chipped filling, but I am not worried this time, our dentist seems really lovely and E was so brave so its time I was too.
I think having my mum there with us really helped as Emily loves her Grandma and always chooses her over me and grandma even bought E a kinder surprise afterwards for being such a brave girl.
Teeth are so important, I cannot deny it does worry me when teeth get damaged. It could be from an accident or from generally not looking after your teeth. Because of this I endeavour to make sure E looks after her teeth the best way she can.
How are your children when they go to the dentist?
My 3yo is quite good about going to the dentist too – has been quite a few times now as she has a heart condition and dental care is extra important because of that (mouth infections for her could cause her to get an infection in her heart). Sounds like you did a great job of preparing Emily for her first proper trip to the dentist and she did very well – well done Emily! 🙂