Little Tropper Conquers First SMILEstone

September 1st was a big day for us. Our little guy had his first visit with the dentist. Of course, the camera had to come along with us. Taking the camera may sound a little silly, but I believe in capturing every single BIG moment and this certainly qualified.

I had been prepping him for this day a while now, and I was so impressed with the turnout! I didn't want there to be any unexpected surprises so I made sure he understood that it was now his turn to sit in the big chair. As we sat in the waiting area, we were surrounded by cries of other children clinging to their mothers. All the while, the little guy was as cool as a cucumber, never showing any fears.

When his name was called, we were escorted to the children's wing. The room was stocked with everything imaginable to calm little nerves. He sat down in a Spiderman chair and began to read some books.
Meanwhile, I sat nervously wondering if the cucumber would loose his cool. I was curious how the dentist would interact with him. Was he going to be fun and playful or stern and unpleasant. I wasn't too impressed with the nurse. She just didn't seem like she liked her job at all. Not once did I see her crack a smile. Shouldn't that be part of the criteria when working with children?

She began asking questions. "How much juice and milk does he drink?" "Do y'all have well water?" "How often does he brush his teeth and floss?" Floss?!! Was she serious? Brushing his teeth is hard enough. It's more like pulling teeth than brushing them. Flossing a 3 yr. old's teeth just seems impossible, but a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do.

Then the moment came to finally meet Dr. Dan. He kept things pretty neutral. He was a no nonsense kind of guy, but in a friendly kind of way.

The little guy laid in his daddy's lap and said AAAAAAA. I was so proud of him! It was as if he had done this before. His teeth got brushed and pricked, but I never saw him flinch once. Dr. Dan wiped his teeth and that was that.

Why he didn't let him rinse with water was beyond me. The poor little thing couldn't stand the taste left in his mouth and he was literally foaming at the mouth by the time it was all over.

Nevertheless, he was a little trooper through it all. I told him that he did such a great job that they were giving him a goody bag to take home. Little did he know that it was all part of the plan. Inside the bag was a Diego toothbrush, Spongebob toothpaste and, of course, floss.

Unfortunately, Dr. Dan discovered a tiny little cavity, so we will be returning sooner than we were hoping. Hopefully, the second time around will be as good as the first, minus the cavity. Believe it or not, when we got home, the little guy was already wanting to floss. Maybe it won't be so bad after all.