First Dentist Visit

Last Tuesday was Zack's first dentist visit. I felt bad that I haven't taken him to the dentist yet and he's already 2 1/2 years old. But I've heard conflicting times as to when to take a child to the dentist. Some places I've read to take them after they are two some websites say three and some say when they get their first tooth. In Zack's case that would have been like 4 months old. And I'm sorry a 4 month old does not need to visit the dentist.

I'll admit I was a little nervous for my little guy to visit the dentist. Don't get me wrong. I loved going to the dentist when I was little. He was super nice, the office was fun and we got prizes afterwards. Luckily I knew someone that worked in a dentist's office and I've heard really good things (from her and other patients) about him. So we gave it a try.

Zack is fearless. I love that little guy! When we got to the denstist office he immediately started playing with all the toys and exploring the room under the stairs. It was awesome. Gavin of course played too. That was my other concern I couldn't get a sitter for Gavin so I was worried that if Zack had a meltdown or something I wouldn't be able to help because I would already have my handsful with his little brother.

After I filled out the majority of the paperwork for the first visit the dental assistant called Zack back. She told me that normally the first visit is a lap visit and they quickly look at the teeth but mostly just pretend denstist. I really didn't have a lap available for Zack because Gavin was already buring himself into me because the lady was talking to us (he's such a shy little guy). So I asked Zack if he wants to sit on mommies lap and have the dentist just look at his teeth or sit in the big chair and have his teeth cleaned. He chose have his teeth cleaned. And off he went with the Dental Assistant. I had to hurry and grab all my stuff to catch up to them. Zack just jumped right into the dental chair and was ready to go. They wanted him to lay down but he wasn't really comfortable doing that. He also didn't like the headphones in his ears so he didn't watch or listen to the movie that was playing in the ceiling.

The dental assistant cleaned his teeth, gave him a little floride and flossed his teeth. And he did wonderful! He listened to her, held his mouth open big and wide and sucked the water sucker (don't know technical name) when she asked him to. I was so proud of my little guy!

And of course I took pictures.

Pictures with the Dental Assistant. Don't mind the huge bruise on his forehead. He ran into a table the week before and it still hasn't completely healed.




Goodie Bag!!! Zack got a toothbrush, sticker, floss, a prize from the prize bucket and a tocken to buy a prize from the candy machine. He totally lucked out.



The dentist checking his teeth. I was worried because he had a brown spot on his back molar that I scrub at every night and thought was a cavity. Come to find out that it's just mother natures way of sticking her tounge out at good dental hygiene. The dentist asked if Zack got a lot of ear infections when he was a baby (which he didn't) but all it takes is one ear infection and medication to damage enamel that hadn't come in yet. So the enamel was stained and soft on the back molar, we made another dentist appointment for the next week (today) to have it fixed. No drilling or shots. Just a little sanding and a filling.