Well, after much hype, a re-reading of Mercer Mayer's Dentist book and much chatting about how 'fun' the dentist would be...
She hated it.
She screamed. She was scared.
Great. Good 'first' to imprint on her brain, right?
The hardest part was the fact that they require the child to come back to the chair by themselves. Well, they strongly encourage it. Lets take it from her perspective. "Hello Mr and Mrs Stranger that I've never seen before that wear weird masks, smell funny and have gloves on. I'd just LOVE to accompany you to a place I've never seen do to something a little odd."
In the end, Wyeth and I went back with Seren. I held her hand and did some singing to her. The dentist did very little, in my opinion, to assuage her fears. Instead he said, "We already gave out the academy award this morning."
HUH! She has no idea what that means. She doesn't understand sarcasm! I thought it was rude. Me? If I was the dentist, I would have had Seren look at the 'tapper' and the mirror and ask any questions. I would have her enjoy the seat a bit- ride up and down, etc. And THEN get started. The whole 'welcome to this wacky room, sit in this wacky chair and open your mouth real wide' thing didn't work at all.
So, 15 minutes later, he declared that her teeth were fine, her mouth was small and that we should start saving for braces. He wouldn't be cleaning them due to her 'response'. Oh, and can I have 40.00 please for my time.
Tears wiped, smiles regained, we celebrated this 'first' with a picnic in the park. Seren declared for the rest of the day that she did not like the dentist. When I asked her about it last night before she went to bed, she snuggled me and said, "I guess it wasn't that bad."
Sigh.
What have been others' experiences with pediatric dentists? I don't think I'll be going back there. It is just scary when you are three years old and PEDIATRIC dentists, in my opinion, should know that. He did say that her response was 'normal'. (Of course it was!) At least the day was gorgeous and the picnic was good fun!
2 comments:
Yikes, Megan! I'd be looking for a new dentist, too. That's too bad--especially for a pediatric dentist!
Our experience was vastly different. My dentist is not a pediatric dentist, but he sees both kids and adults. William just had his first visit on Monday. Our dental hygienist was not quite as "warm and fuzzy" as I would have liked. But she was very calm and kind and patient. I could tell she was hoping William would sit on the chair by himself, but as soon as we walked into the examining room, William got scared and the tears started flowing. She had me sit on the chair with him while she showed him some of the tools and the light. And she did show William how the chair moves up and down, and how it goes back. Then she had us both lie back in the chair, with William stretched out on top of me, and after that he was fine. She counted his teeth, and then showed him the rubber-tipped brush, and she let him touch it as it spun around. She showed him the air and water squirter and the suction straw. And then she cleaned his teeth. Then the dentist came in at the end and checked out his teeth. And finally, the dental hygienist showed William how he should be brushing, and gave him some stickers. Overall, it was a good experience. I'm sorry yours didn't go so well. Hopefully next time will be better!
Our experience was MUCH better... they let us sit in the chair with them, they didn't put on masks until they met the kid, they played funny games, they got a prize, etc. But the first time they both screamed bloody murder!!! The second visit they screamed bloody murder!
Jon said the last time Nate didn't cry at all and Alex screamed bloody murder then had a fit bc he didn't want to leave the dentist office bc he loves the dentist. ha ha!
I would definitely find someone different. There has to be a better pediatric dentist out there!
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