Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Nathan's first EVER visit to the dentist

Okay, so I'm sure you're thinking, "what kind of mother waits four-and-a-half years to take her kid to the dentist?" The answer: a mother who just doesn't want to put her child through any more than he's been through!

I have had so much anxiety build up to this day. Nathan doesn't do well with medical appointments. He screams and whines, grabs at the door to get out before we even see a doctor. Last month I took him to the optometrist for a follow up visit and we couldn't even get his eyes measured because he freaked out. It was a battle just to get him to look at a TV screen for a few seconds. There is no such thing as a smooth appointment with Nathan.

On Sunday, Nathan was not feeling well. He was quite lethargic and not himself. He basically was laying on the floor in a daze. He had no interest in anything- later that night Nathan had a fever. I'm still perplexed by this sudden onset of temperature.
Anyway last night (Monday) Nathan was shaking in his bed and complaining quite loudly. Nothing I could do seemed to comfort him. Sean helped me get him out of bed and then pointed out that Nathan was doing something weird with his soother, indicating that perhaps he had some kind of pain in his mouth. A valid point I thought.

The next morning, I decided it was time to find a paediatric dentist. I made the call and explained the situation. The receptionist was so great, she made me feel at ease and suggested that I come in right away so that they could have a look. I told her I was anxious about how he might react to all this and she reassured me all would be fine. The dentist and staff that work there have seen many children and a good number of them have special needs.
So I thought "what the heck, lets go for it" and two hours later Nathan and I were in the office. I filled out some paper work and then we met the dentist.
The dentist was unbelievable... ( in a good way) He introduced himself to Nathan and then me. He told us everything he was going to do and let Nathan touch all of his tools. He then told me, it's not uncommon for kids with RTS...... Wait a minute.... What???? A dentist who actually knows about RTS!!! As impressed as I was with the dentist, his staff and the entire office set up, my sweet little Nathan surprised me even more!!! Oh lets not get ahead of ourselves, he wasn't happy and he did whine BUT he did lay on me and let the dentist look in his mouth. Once the dentist was done, Nathan just sat on me and waited patiently. I couldn't believe it!!! Nathan's teeth are perfect. No issues at all. We just need to get a good cleaning done so we will go back next month.

After a brief talk with the dentist we went home. I told Nathan that we need to start brushing every night and that the dentist had given us a new toothbrush for him to do that with.

Here's Nathan brushing his teeth for the first time. I'm so impressed with him - seems that the oral aversion is lessening.

Wow - look at the water go down the drain... that sure is interesting!


Mommy is showing me how she brushes - it's kind of funny to watch. I think I might even like the sensation of this brush!


Yup - this feels alright! I think I might be okay with this.


I'm not fighting it, Mom's brushing and it's all good with me.


Look at my Mom! She's so proud of me because I didn't fuss or anything. She helped me brush my teeth for the first time tonight and I didn't get all stressed out!

I love you big boy and I'm super proud of you!


5 comments:

  1. Wow, well done Nathan! So glad he's taken so easily to the teeth-brushing...nothing like having one less "obstacle" to worry about, no matter how trivial it seems to others! Hugs!

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  2. Way to go Nathan! You're such a big boy to handle that so well!

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  3. that is amazing! i'm glad u had such a good experiance:) Jesus just started with the anxiaty part of seeing doctors he crys as soon as i put him down on the bed :(
    he looks like such a proud big boy! :)

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  4. No need to beat yourself up about not taking him to the dentist until now. I didn't either! Austin was 4-5 years old by the time I got him to a dentist. It was awful! They were only able to clean 4 teeth and long story short, years later we just went to a new dentist on Monday that deals with special needs and he did okay. Started shaking the minute he saw the dentist chair but we got through it!

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  5. Well done, little guy! It's great to see that his first dental appointment went well without any big fuss. Even better is there were no cavities. That's a really nice cherry on the cake.

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