D-day ( the dentist! )

Today was the day-- Jack's first trip to the dentist! Without even knowing what the dentist really did Jack was ready to hate this trip from the word go. When we would mention it he just kept telling us how he wasn't going to open his mouth. This morning Pete came up with the idea of Chuck E. Cheese. We hadn't taken Jack yet, but thought the combination of games and pizza would be good enough to get any child to behave at the dentist.

We arrive at the dentist ( a pediatric dentist by the way) and they have the names of all the new patients on an easel- cute touch. Inside they have toys, magazines, bright colors, the works, and Jack seems to enjoy the waiting room. They call him back and tell him he can pick the color chair he is going to sit in. Parents are allowed back but aren't allowed with the children. They have a little parents waiting area, you can see and mostly hear what is going on, but you aren't interfering with the process. At first things seem to be going well. He gets to pick out what color bag he wants, the bag contains a timer, a toothbrush, floss, and toothpaste, he is answering the dental assistant's questions, and I am the one being a nervous wreck. She explains how to brush and rinse, how to time how long to do it, and then comes the actual examination- things go downhill pretty fast. She wants to count his teeth- she gets to six then he is done. I am not sure what happened, but I know the next thing is putting the red fluoride on his teeth to see where he needs to brush better. Nope not going to happen. He begins to yell at her, he says no I am not going to open my mouth, don't do it, and he gets out of the chair and runs away! I didn't know what to do since we were put in our own area away from him-- I didn't know if we were supposed to interfere at all. Luckily, Pete decided that he was not going to have any of it and catches Jack to talk to him. The dental assistant said that Pete should sit on the chair and hold Jack while she finished. Again, I am not sure what happened, but I know that the fluoride never happened. She just called the dentist back. From my far away vantage the dentist seemed well suited to dealing with children like Jack. He brought a flashlight and let Jack turn it on. He looked in Jack's mouth and the began to discuss things with Pete. I know that the main thing was Jack's future need for braces. Now this is something we knew a long time ago because I had the worst teeth out of any one I have ever met. Poor Jack was destined to have horrible teeth. The appointment ended with Jack never getting his fluoride but he did get a blue bouncy ball gift!

I must say that while he wasn't the best patient he really did listen until she told him to open his mouth because when we got home he pulled out his timer, toothbrush, and toothpaste and began to actually brush his teeth. He also fondly remembers that the dentist used a blue flashlight to look at his teeth and tongue-- he thought that was amazing.

So what happened with Chuck E. Cheese? We thought that instead of punishing him we should try to make the experience as fun as possible- sort of an establishing the carrot so we can use the stick later- and went to Chuck E. Cheese.