The Dentist

The other day I took Lucy for her first dentist visit. Before I went I was a little skeptical about having a check up so early. Lucy can't even hold still for 5 seconds so I'm could only imagine how much fun a trip to the dentist chair would be. Lucy only has 6 teeth and two more coming in so I was wondering what they would want to do. I had nightmares about them trying to get an x-ray and having to do it over and over again because Lucy wouldn't hold still and then 4 months later we would both be diagnosed with cancer from exposure to all that radiation. My other big fear was that she'd bite the dentist as he tried to take a peek in her mouth. Lately biting is her big thing. It seems like we're constantly having to fish something out of her mouth and sure enough, every time our fingers go in there she clamps down. I was very interested to see how this would go.

Well the day came and we made our way to the pediatric dentists office. It was painted with bright colors and had lots of toys to play with in the waiting room. When they took us back into the exam room, it was covered with colorful distractions to divert her attention. When the actual exam took place, it was all of about 30 seconds. Lucy laid on my lap and I held her hands while the dentist took a look at her teeth. She of course started to wail, which actually helped the situation because her mouth was side open for the entire exam. No biting, which I was relieved about. After the exam the dentist and I talked for a bit, they gave Lucy a cool new toothbrush and let her pick a toy from the prize box. On the way out Lucy looked as though nothing had happened--She was cool as a cucumber. I wondered if it was all worth it, but having her want to play with her new toothbrush all day convinced me it was a good move.