Last August, my son and I went to see a new dentist because our current dentist had retired. Life kept us busy and I had let our normal six-month check-up lapse by about two months. We get to our new dentist for our cleanings and I am given the news that my son has two cavities – one on each back molar. I was devastated. I always made sure we did the right things – he has never gone to bed with a sippy cup or bottle, he only ever drinks water, unsweetened almond milk or our homemade vegetable juice that we made a couple of times a week, if he had anything after we brushed his teeth for the night, it was water, he always lets me floss his teeth without a fight and I was always conscious of his sugar intake. He is much more willing to brush his teeth before bed than first thing in the morning, but I always made sure it was done, no matter how hard it was. This was one of the few times I have truly felt defeated in motherhood.
When it came time to actually get the cavities filled I was expecting the worst. I had reached out to some close mom friends about what to expect because I was certain I needed to be prepared for all the screaming, crying and wiggling around. Since there was a cavity on both sides of his mouth and the dentist said she wouldn’t make him numb on both areas at the same time, which is completely understandable, we had to make two appointments.
The first appointment came. On the way there, I felt bad for him, and of course guilty, too. I bribed him with a trip to Target to go get Legos after his appointment if he was good. Honestly, I probably would have gone anyways because I just felt so bad. He hopped up in the chair and the dentist numbed the area and then proceeded with the shot. He didn’t even flinch. We were all shocked. I gave him one of his favorite cars to play with to pass the time. The dentist let the shot numb his mouth for a while before she got to work.
Guys, my son just laid there with his mouth open the whole time. He was never afraid of any of the tools going in his mouth, or the drill noises, or sharp objects. I was shocked. The dentist was shocked. Her assistant was shocked. Other people working in the office would come in to ask the dentist a question and they would do a double-take, looking at my son, commenting how shocked they were that he was just letting them work on him. He just sat there holding his car and let them do whatever they needed. And we live in a small city, so there aren’t any of those fancy dentist offices for kids with screens everywhere playing every Disney movie imaginable to distract your kids.
Then the second appointment came. Now I was certain this wouldn’t go well, because if history is any indication, this was how his first two haircuts went. The first haircut, he was perfectly fine. The second was all the screaming, crying and wiggling. I was wrong again. He laid there in the chair perfectly still again. The whole time. All of us were shocked again. And I did bribe him with Legos again. No regrets there.
Beating myself up over these cavities, I actually ended up buying a dental mirror. My son thinks it’s the greatest thing ever. When it first arrived I opened it up, cleaned it and showed it to my son. I asked him if I could check his teeth. He looked at me shocked and asked, “Are you a dentist?” I told him no, but that I got the mirror to help us look at his teeth better. So I inspected his teeth with the mirror and immediately after I was done, he requested that he do the same to me. He now asks to look at his teeth every day with the mirror.
If you need assistance with finding dental care for your child, please visit the American Dental Association‘s resources. They also have some fun free activity sheets for children on their website. There are also a ton of resources on the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry‘s website. Crest and Oral-B also have a list of resources including tracking charts and books on their website.
Also, if you have a dental college or a college with a dental hygienist program, they may offer free or discounted cleanings.
You can follow along with Claire and all her motherhood adventures on Instagram @fromcoffeetocarrots.
