Samantha's first blog

Posted By pamelamyers on September 19, 2011

Sam went to the dentist today for the first time.  It didn’t go as well as I had hoped.  Not that there was anything wrong with her teeth, but she was not a happy camper.  I made sure to choose a pediatric dentist so they would be more used to dealing with little ones who don’t know what is going on.  Well, it didn’t help.  When we got there, Sam was perfectly fine.  The waiting room had tons of toys and other kids for her to play with.  We went into the back, and as soon as I put Sam in the exam chair, she started to get nervous.  She kept putting her arms out for me to pick her up.  The hygienist tried to put her at ease, and for a while it worked.  Sam helped to brush the teeth of a stuffed dragon with a huge toothbrush and she thought that was pretty funny.  Sam was allowed to pick her own toothbrush (orange, of course).  Then came the actual exam part.  When the hygienist tried to brush Sam’s teeth she got so upset she wouldn’t even open her mouth.  We tried plying her with stickers and jewelry and even that didn’t work.  I knew we were in trouble because stickers and jewelry are two of Sam’s favorite things!  Eventually, I had to sit in the chair with Sam on my lap and basically just hang her upside down a bit so that her mouth would open.  She cried the whole time her teeth were getting brushed with the fluoride treatment.  That didn’t take long, thankfully, and I did get her to calm down.  But then the dentist came in…cue the ominous music here…dum dum dum….

All Dr. Megan wanted to do was look at Sam’s teeth and you would have thought Sam was being tortured.  So, again, she cried like a lunatic.  But the good thing is that Sam’s teeth do look great, they all came in properly and they are healthy.  We talked about her 2-year molars and how I know they are coming in because Sam has been chewing a lot and she keeps putting my finger in her mouth so I can rub her gums for her.  Dr. Megan said it could take 4-6 months for them all to come in, so we probably have a ways to go.  When I rub Sam’s gums in back I don’t feel any teeth poking through yet.

Sam goes back in 6 months for her next checkup.  I am really hoping that she will handle it better by then since she will be older.  I know they will want to do more to her than they did this time and if she doesn’t cooperate, well, I don’t know what we will do.  I really don’t want Sam to dread going to the dentist, but if she doesn’t let them do some basic dental care, eventually, she will need a lot more than a teeth cleaning.  I suppose all I can do is keep brushing at home to keep her pearly whites in good shape.  At least she is good now at letting me brush her teeth at home.  She opens her mouth and says, “Ahhhhh”, which is adorable but I have no idea where she learned that.  Maybe if I tell her without brushing she will get no more beans (jelly beans) or M’s (M&Ms) or other assorted goodies!  Or bribery, I am not above bribery…

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