Lance’s first real dentist appointment

First she spent some time cleaning his teeth and doing sealants. He had 3 sealants put on as our insurance would only cover certain teeth for the sealants so we only did the ones that they insurance would cover at this point. She spent a lot of time cleaning his teeth and trying to get them clean. 

Lance received a little scolding on how he was not brushing his teeth enough. He is pretty bad about doing it on his own. If I do not remind him to do it, he is not likely to do it. Of course, he is also really sloppy about brushing his teeth when he does do it. Evidently he only brushes some of his teeth when he does brush. 

Imagine that. A kid that only brushes some of his teeth? Who would have thought? At least he brushes some of them, right? 

So I need to get better at reminding him to brush ALL of his teeth really good or all of his teeth are going to fall out. 

The dental hygienist made the comment about how the tooth fairy would have to come visit if the dentist had to pull a tooth. I just looked at her and said, “The tooth fairy does not come to visit if the dentist takes the teeth.” She thought that was a pretty good thing I did as a parent. Finally, I can feel justified as a mean parent that just cannot get it all together to do the whole “tooth fairy” thing every single time a child loses a tooth so we do have certain rules when it comes to the “tooth fairy.” Hey, we have to stay sane somehow.

In all fairness, Lance did perfectly fine with the whole cleaning and sealants being done. I thought he was going to start “white knuckling” the chair at one point and I just told him that he could not “white knuckle” the chair. He just said “what?” I responded, “just relax, you are doing just fine.” The dental hygienist was really good with him. She was talking to him and keeping him pretty relaxed through most of it. There were only a few times where he really squirmed. I do not think he was in pain so much as he was just tired of sitting still for her. He said his jaw was tired so I think that was the worst of it.

Then we waited for the actual dentist…Brent Browning.

He is pretty awesome as far as dentists go. He could keep you laughing with his stories if he did not have his hands and tools in your mouth. I did not go back with Lance for this part of his visit. This was their request. 

I was not 100% okay with that as I think that he would have liked me to go back with me, but I have come to find that most dentists are just not okay with helicopter parents. I am not one of those parents in the doctor’s office, but most parents are. I prefer that the doctor talk directly to my child and then look to me to fill in the details. It is them that is there for the visit and I am their medical voice. They cannot and should not be making decisions for themselves because they cannot make it legally (nor should they be). They are not reasonable beings nor should they be expected to make rational decisions. I especially do not want someone making decisions about the money I am about to spend without consulting me first. Period. It irritates me. 

Anyway….rant aside…

I only heard from the waiting area once “Ouch that hurt!” I did not hear anything else from my child that was unusual or unexpected. He was not screaming or giving any other signs of distress. I think it was just an unexpected response from everyone as he did not know what to expect. It is kind of like me when I was a little girl receiving a shot and I looked at the nurse and said, “Ouch you stuck me.” It is not your normal response and kind of unexpected. He was screaming. 

Lance was supposed to have some “sedation” for this appointment and they tried. Lance came out and said, “They gave me giggle gas. It did not work.” Clearly it did not work as he was not at all hopped up on anything. He certainly was not laughing when he said, “Ouch that hurt!” Well come to find out from Dr. Browning’s wife they did try to give it to him but the tank they were using was almost empty and it did have enough to sedate him. To be real honest with you, however, I am not entire sure it would have worked on him. If he is anything like his mother it might not have and that is a risk we take going in. Having not had him sedated in any way, we would not have known that. I only say it might not have worked on him because even a little bit would have had some “effect” on him and it had zero effect. 

The good news is that Lance did just fine without any sedation for the appointment after all. They were doing it for him to make him “more comfortable.” I suppose it was more so that he would not “freak out” on them than anything else. Honestly, after what they told me about today’s appointment, he will be fine in the future. It might not be his favorite thing to do, but he will be fine. His only complaint was that his “jaw hurt” from having it open too long. He was fine otherwise.

Originally we went in thinking that he needed to have 2 cavities filled, but he only got 1 filled. He broke off a piece of the other tooth and evidently took the piece with the cavity in it when he did. Since that tooth was not bothering him at all, they simply smoothed out the surface of the tooth so the sharpness of it would not bother him. He only started complaining about the “hole” in his tooth a couple of days before his appointment. We will watch him closely over the next 6 months and make sure nothing else forms on the tooth, but for now he is in the clear for at least that long.

I am just grateful that he is not horrified of the dentist like his father is. I am not sure horrified is even a good word to use here. He hates the dentist. There is no other way to describe it. I have to have him heavily drugged to get him into the chair for any work. 

I have tried to make the dentist a pleasant experience for the boys as possible. So far I think that Dr. Brent Browning has been that for the boys to date. I have been pleased that he has only done as much work as needed and nothing more. 

The other 2 boys will go when they get back from Philmont.