Carter had his first trip to the dentist this morning. I was a bit skeptical about how it would all go down, but my little guy did amazingly well! Frankly, he sat through his cleaning better than most grown ups do. Everything was decorated in jungle theme and there were jungle animals hanging everywhere, which really made Carter excited. The whole reclining in the chair thing was a bit nerve-racking for him, but then they gave him the cool giraffe sunglasses to wear. He made it through all the scratching of the teeth, flossing, fluoride, and then the cleaning with the little sandy "toothpaste" on the upper teeth. Once they tried to move to the lower teeth he had had enough. I mean, that is the worst part, sandy toothpaste, a little water squirter spraying everywhere, and a vacuum sucking up the inside of your mouth. So we scratched doing the toothpaste on the bottom and moved on to the x-ray. Carter bit down on the thing, wore the silly vest, and held perfectly still. He was the image of the perfect pediatric patient.
I, myself, was more disgusted over the flavors of everything. Orange flavored/scented gloves, cookie dough teeth cleaner, marshmallow fluoride.... yuck!!
We originally went in, well, because he needed a general check up, but really because Carter fell up a slide a few weeks back and hit his front teeth. They were tender for a couple of days, but then seemed fine. Until... I noticed about a week ago that one of his front teeth was turning gray. Not a good sign. Well, the x-rays came back and Carter has no cavities!! Good little brusher of mine. And the supposedly "dead" tooth actually looks okay too. That's not to say that it won't get worse or anything, but it's not loose, and it's not dead... yet. The dentist said that graying of the teeth after trauma is pretty normal. It can be temporary and return to the normal color or just stay the same color of gray. She said there was nothing to worry about unless it ever bothered Carter or if other trauma occurs to the same tooth. (Any bets on whether a three year old boy is going to hit his mouth on something again? I think just the other night Carter was crying because he hit his mouth on Andi's crib while jumping off his bed)
I was thrilled that the tooth didn't have to be pulled or anything and oh so happy that there are no cavities!! Motivation to keep brushing and flossing. The thumb sucking is a concern because it's making his pallet really cramped, so we are going to work on ridding Carter of his thumbs, but other than that, everything looked great.
I was so proud of Carter. It went way better than I ever could have anticipated. And now his poor mom can breathe a little easier knowing that poor gray tooth isn't going anywhere for the moment. Way to go Carter!
I scheduled Andi's first dentist appointment for a few weeks from now. I have a feeling that hers is not going to go near as smooth... wish me luck!
7 comments:
Nice work Carter! That is nice to know that his teeth are nice and healthy. It must be dentist week this week. Cal had an appointment yesterday too, and Grayson has one tomorrow. I am afraid Gray is not going to handle it as well as Carter!
Way to go Carter! Woo hoo! That's nasty about the cookie dough and marshmallow flavored things. Ew!
I am so happy, your post gives me courage, I have been dreading getting Owen in, but I think that it is time! Way to go Carter, and good luck with Andi!
That a boy Carter! My Dad and brother are dentists so it was fun to hear your story... what fun office decor!
The nasty flavors seriously had me shivering, I don't know how you made it through smelling all that! I didn't know Carter was still a thumb sucker...he and Evan. Let me know if you find something that works, we haven't been that aggresive or consistent yet but really want it to stop. And when I was young I was jumping on my bed and fell off and hit my mouth on a dresser or bookshelf. One of my front teeth was dead and turned a browinsh color. All my preschool pics are great because of it! Hopefully his will fade back to normal and not have to live with it for a few more years!
That's great about Carter and good luck with Andi! I have been taking my boys in every 6 months since kenden was 2 and Tate like 1. Even if Andi dosn't do so good the first time. It gets better each time.
What a trooper. They have some really interesting/fun things to make kids feel more comfortable in the dental office now-a-days. I still remember my dad having me listen to the Care Bears, which was cool then but nothing like they have now! Also, your 4th of July celebrating sounded like so much fun. All that swimming makes me want to go jump in the pool.
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