Toddlers Flossing

Later on after our dentist appointment we took a trip to Target. Really we were only going for floss sticks (the curved ones seem to work best for us). 

When it was time to brush and floss that night, L was all for it. But my little one wasn't really on board with this. I didn't push her, I told her to let me know when she wanted me to floss her teeth. But I knew I had to come up with something. Later that night, Daddy said to me, she's 2 and if she doesn't want to do it, could we start it when she's 3 like L?? I see the point he's making, BUT we did just go to the dentist and they DID say we should. We had that talk, all of us together, and they were told that we should start doing this. I know L wouldn't understand why M wasn't doing it (or why she didn't have to) since we were told by the dentist that we should. I didn't want her to think that it was okay NOT TO DO IT!

The following day after we finished at soccer, we made another trip to Target. To get some stickers! I let them both pick them out. When we got home I started making 2 sticker charts. One with M's name and one with L's name. While I was making it I explained to her how it would work (of course M was right there hearing it all). She could choose a sticker in the morning after we flossed and at bedtime when we flossed and when the chart was full of stickers with no empty blocks, she could choose to either go to Chuck E. Cheese or Puzzles Fun Dome. After I finished, we went into the bathroom to hang the charts. L asked me why I had 2 and I replied, "One day M will be ready and she'll ask me to floss her teeth, when her chart is full, she can choose one of those two places to go as well." I never said anything to M about flossing her teeth. 

That night I brushed and flossed L's teeth. L started brushing her teeth after I was finished and while I started brushing M's teeth. When I finished brushing M's teeth, she took my face into her hands pulled me close to her. We were nose to nose and she said, "Floss my teeth Mommy!" We celebrated, made a big deal and she's been flossing ever since!!

Toddlers at The Dentist

The morning of the girls first dentist appointment, they were so excited! They woke up, ate breakfast, and in the process of getting dressed they must have asked me a million times what time the dentist opened. They were ready to go!

The girls don't watch a lot of TV, when they do watch, it's typically Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or a Disney movie. In the last several weeks, one of the things that came on right before each episode of MMCH was a small commercial (in a sense) about going to the dentist. Each time we would see this, we would always celebrate that fact that we were going to get to go there soon. In this "commercial" there are cool things on the wall there and things like that. I would ask them if they thought the dentist office that we were going to had cool things on the wall. I had them excited about every part of this appointment. Nothing about the disappointed them!

Excitement brewed as we got out of the car. Walking into the office building we had to go down a pretty cool staircase. This was a pediatric dentist that we were going to, so even the sign on the door was exciting for them! We opened the door COOL THINGS ON THE WALL, squeals of excitement! The fish tank, the train table, books, they had it all! Luckily Daddy showed up pretty quickly and was able to help me with the paperwork! The girls were so excited, wanting to show me everything, that it was hard to concentrate on what I had to do. THEN THEY CALLED OUR NAME!!

As we walked back, each of them were able to choose a new toothbrush and were shown the magical treat/toy corner that they would be able to choose a toy and a sticker after we were finished. L went first, she sat in the chair and started talking a mile a minute to the dental assistant, Mrs. Sheila. Mrs. Shelia was amazing! L is very talkative, Mrs. Sheila listened to her and showed her each one of the tools, explained in perfect terminology what it was for and what she was going to do with it, and she would let L touch whatever she was talking about. Before moving onto the next tool, she would touch that one to each of L's fingers (so she could feel it and know it doesn't hurt)!  L laid back in the chair and was given some some glasses to put on. Mrs. Sheila made sure her glasses were okay, that she could see in the mirror and ask if she was ready before just getting started! 

There was a girl in the area next to us just screaming. I was so nervous that this was going to set one of the two of mine in a frenzy. M asked a few times what was the matter, but we were able to divert her attention! L did have to have an x-ray (on the tooth that she hit on our bed, I explained this in the last blog post). She sat there like such a big girl, she sat still. I was so proud of her! I stood there watching her, seeing how brave she was being, she looked so big. It was hard not to cry! (I say that as I start to tear up)...

It was M's turn and seriously everything went just the same. Even though M watched as Mrs. Shelia went through all of the tools, Mrs Sheila went through them all again (the whole bit) with M! M did hold my hand as she got her teeth cleaned. I think it made her a little nervous, but she did incredibly well! Daddy and I were both so impressed. They even did well when the actual dentist came in. The dentist saw M first (since she was already in the chair). The funny thing, both girls had recently learned how to say Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, as the dentist walked in M looked at her and began to say it. To listen to a 2 year old say that word, not only is it the cutest thing ever, it also takes a few minutes! They also thought it was the cutest thing ever, they brought multiple people to hear both of them hear it! It was very cute and very funny!

Both girls had a great check-up! I was happy to hear that we are doing such a great job with their teeth. The dentist was happy to hear the things the girls eat and don't eat/drink! Together we had conversations with the girls about some changes we were going to make to our bedtime routine (this needs it's own blog post). One thing we were going to start is flossing. They did well with Mrs. Sheila flossing them at the dentist office. I wasn't sure how it was going to go at home!

On the way out of the office, they got a goodie bag with their new toothbrush, some floss sticks and I don't remember what else was in there. As we walked out, there were able to choose their prize. I think this may have taken as much time as their actual appointment. As Daddy and I were praising them on how well they did, Mrs. Sheila was doing the same. L asked when we get to come back again. Mrs. Sheila whispered to me not to expect the next appointment to go as well??!! Really?? 

The next appointment is scheduled! We'll start talking it up once again as the time gets closer and hope for the best!!

What kind of experiences have you had with your little ones at the dentist? If you haven't been yet, how do think it's going to go? Please share your thoughts!

Preparing Toddlers for Their First Dentist Appointment

Going to the dentist has always been traumatic for me. A shot or two of Novocaine didn't numb me like it did other people. As a kid I would tell the dentist I could still feel what he was doing; I don't know if it was because I was young and he thought I was "just saying" it hurt, BUT IT HURT! It hurt and no one would do anything to fix it. As I grew older, I just didn't want to go to the dentist anymore. In my late 20's I found a dentist that listened to me. I had to have a wisdom tooth removed; it took 13 shots of Novocaine to numb me, a few hours later I was back to normal. I get sick to my stomach can't sleep at night scared when I know I have to go there! 

Of course when you have kids, you want to take all of their hurt and fears away the best you can. I will do everything I possibly can to make sure they take good care of their teeth and make sure they have the best experiences they possibly can when going to the dentist.  

Both of my girls started teething early. As soon as I saw the first bit of white poke through their gums (about 5 months old for L), we began brushing. I honestly think brushing this early has helped us, as we don't have any issues with brushing, no battles, no arguments about it (at this point anyway, I just hope this continues)!

They make toothbrushes for 3+ months as well as training toothpaste. We would sing songs while brushing. I got a couple of tooth brushing song ideas from the internet. But their favorite, is one I made up. We still sing sometimes while we are brushing. I would tell them that "I am brushing the sugars out of their mouth. If I didn't get the sugars out, those sugars would work on their teeth and make cavities." As they learned how to count, before we would brush, they would open their mouths and I would "count how many sugars they had" before I brushed. They would do the same to me. They had to let me brush their teeth good, then they could brush their own. L would tease me and tell me that I missed a sugar (she, to this day, says this every time we brush). 

When reading about taking little ones to the dentist for the first time, the recommended age ranges from 2-3 years old for their first visit. I was planning to go when M turned 2 and L turned 3. As I had been taking good care and there wasn't any known issues. 

The beginning of December 2012, L was running in our bedroom. No sooner then I said, "You need to stop running, you're going to get hurt," she fell and hit her mouth on the corner of our bed. Our bed is a very large, wooden king size bed and there is a dent in the wood where she hit her front left tooth. She cried for a bit and of course, told me her tooth hurt! Within a week her top front left tooth was visibly darker than the rest of her teeth. That was my cue that it was time to call to make their appointment. 

I called several dentists before I found the one that I was comfortable making an appointment with. I was so surprised to hear that some dentist WOULD NOT LET THE PARENTS GO BACK WITH THEIR TODDLERS! I wasn't okay with that at all. Multiple receptionist that I talked to tried to tell me that doing it this way was better. Maybe better for some, but NOT FOR ME OR MY KIDS! I found one that would let my go back but wasn't happy with the call itself. The next phone call I made was the one I chose. She didn't rush me off the phone, she answered my questions, I could go back with my kids AND my little one could go back with me and watch the big one for her appointment! SCORE! 

I called in December, our actual appointment wasn't until February. Randomly in the previous months, I had been telling both girls that we were going to have to go to the dentist soon. That there are doctors for everything. We talked about their pediatrician, the ENT (when M was having so many ear infections, the eye doctor (when L had to get her eyes examined) and that the Dentist was a doctor for their teeth. Once the appointment was made, we didn't talk about it every day, but a few times a week. 

I tried to prepare them for every part of the appointment (as best that I could). The "big cool chair" that moved up and down, the dentist would have pointers and tools that they had to look inside their mouths to tell them what a good job they were doing taking care of their teeth and getting the sugars out! I explained to L that they may want to take a special picture of her hurt tooth. 

They were ready for their appointment and they were actually excited.

My next post will be about their actual appointment.

How are you/did you prepare your little ones for their first dentist appointment?