First Trip to the Dentist

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Monday I took the kids for their first dentist appointment.

Yes, they are 5 and 3 1/2, don’t judge….  I really have been meaning to do it for quite a while, at least I’ve been meaning to ever since my youngest stopped biting when he was upset. (That wouldn’t have gone over well…)  I actually had a note to myself on the dry-erase calendar for the past year now, and every month when I erased the board and started a new month I’d notice it and swear I’d call the next day.

Please tell me I’m not the only one who makes big obvious notes to herself and then repeatedly misses them.

Okay, that’s all besides the point.

After I made their first dentist appointment, I started prepping the kids for the big day:

  • We got several books from the library, all about your first trip to the dentist.
  • I got out the old Play-Doh dentist head my husband had as a kid (sometimes the stuff his parents kept actually is useful) and we played dentist.
  • We watched an online video that the dentist office suggested we watch.
  • And, finally, we practiced in Daddy’s reclining chair.  They loved it when I lowered the seat back and tied a towel like a face mask around my nose and mouth so I could count their teeth.

 

Really, the books are all it would have taken for my 5 year-old.

It was the 3 year-old I was crossing my fingers about.

Why?

Because from the moment I told them I had made dentist appointments for them, it was, “I don’t want to go dentist!”  Followed by, “I hate the dentist!”

Three days before the appointment, after brushing his teeth, he totally freaked out, while on the potty of all places.  He was bawling.  All because he didn’t want to go to the dentist.

And the morning of the appointment, as I finished brushing his teeth, once again I heard, “I don’t want to go to the dentist!  I hate the dentist!”

 

Thank you, oh thank you for awesome pediatric dentist offices!

 

taking kids to dentist
The ceiling in the dentist office waiting room

 

All fear was forgotten when we stepped into the waiting room and he declared it looked like a sunken ship.

And that was before he discovered the small collection of free video games and the “tower of toys” where the kids get to put a token at the end of their appointment and get a small prize.

Just to be safe, big sister got into the chair first so he could see what would happen.  Turns out all he cared about was that she was getting to watch Dora the Explorer…  He soon let go of my hand so he could stand next to her chair and catch a few glimpses of Dora himself.

 

taking kids to the dentist

 

They left with first visit t-shirts, tooth brushes, little tubes of toothpaste, and a small turtle and frog from the toy machine.  And they can’t wait to go back.

They sure didn’t have offices like that back when I was little!

 

For more tips about that first dentist trip, check out my post on preventing childhood cavities.

Comments

  1. We go to a pediatric dentist, and my 4-year-old is great. They have a big screen TV in the room so he can watch what he wants, and of course there is a toy chest he can pick from when he’s finished. We’ll be taking our almost 2-year-old there in a few months, so I’m anxious to see how he does.

  2. Even though DD is still pretty young (19 months) I have been wanting to take her for a first visit just to have the interaction with the dentist but she has such high stranger anxiety right now that I don’t think she would let them near her :/ It sounds like you have a great kids dentist in your area!

    • I’ve read so many different things about when to take them the first time. I’d have to say I’d wait until the stranger anxiety was over. My youngest is freaked out by new people/places…which led to all his “I hate the dentist” bit before we went.

  3. Totally worth the drive wasn’t it! We did books, but sometimes the prep seems to make my turtle more nervous. (for cast appointments we just showed up and discussed things right before they happened. If he had too much time to think about it, he obsessed)

    • Yes, I’m thinking books may have been the best bit with my little guy. You probably have a point there — too much talk and he stressed out way more than he needed to.

  4. Wow, I want to go to your dentist! I still haven’t taken my soon to be 5 year old to the dentist either, so don’t feel bad. We don’t have pediatric dentists out here in no where land so I am not sure how it will go. Maybe I will need to make a trip to the nearest city about an hour away so I can assure a “kid friendly” visit.

  7. How ironic is it that I read this post the day BEFORE my 2 year old goes for her first visit. This visit wasn’t planned though…She chipped her TOOTH! So tomorrow, we go for X-rays and a consultation to see if repairing the tooth or pulling it would be the best option. SO LOOKING FORWARD TO IT ! I won’t judge you because my 5 year old hasn’t been since she was 2! I definitely have to do better!

  8. My daughter was fine for her first appointment when she went, but when it was time to go again for her next cleaning she completely freaked out. Like wouldn’t put her jacket on, went limp, screamed bloody murder. Once we got there, like your son, she was completely fine. Went off without a hitch. We’ll see how it goes in 6 months when she goes back for her next cleaning.

    Stopping by from SITS

    • Funny what they get all worked up about some times and how easily they let it go…

      Thanks for stopping by; headed off to read your What If post!

  9. We have always seen a family dentist and thankfully, it’s always gone smoothly.

    • See, that’s what I always went to, and I never had an issue. But back then they didn’t even recommend kids to go to the dentist until so much older. My dad went crazy when I said I was taking the kids to the dentist — he thought I’d lost my mind b/c they are only 3 and 5. LOL>

  10. We have the BEST dentist ever with all the great fun things kids love!!! My kids LOVE going and would probably go every day if they could!! My daughter even had surgery and had two abscessed teeth taken out in a very dramatic and traumatic way when she was very sick at age five… still STILL loves this dentist! Now that’s what I call amazing…
    So glad it all went so well for you! 🙂

    • See, I had an amazing dentist as a kid — not a pediatric dentist, but still pretty great. I had every baby tooth pulled, except maybe one…and never felt it! And I still go to him — drive an hour and a half to see him b/c I’ve heard horror stories of bad dentists.

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