Friday, July 13, 2018

July 10, 2018 "First Dental Appointment"

Rayden loves to brush his teeth and was super excited to go to the dentist. We had been practicing all week. He would open wide, let me look in his mouth with a flash light and count his teeth with the fork. I thought he was ready. At first he didn't want to sit in the chair because it was covered in plastic. We told him it was so they didn't get toothpaste on it. He liked Brandy's glasses with the flashlight attached and allowed her to count his teeth. He even allowed her to use the little mirror. Everything was going smoothly until he noticed Brandy Denning, the dental hygienist, had gloves on. Then he started screaming for her to take them off. I told her the story of the time he wouldn't go into the MRI until the technician took off the gloves. {April 19, 2018 "Optic Nerve MRI #2} We believe he has a phobia of these gloves. (If you have them on, you're going to hurt me.) I tried to sit with him but he just wouldn't calm down. Brandy didn't want to make his first dental visit a traumatic one so she didn't try to clean his teeth. She told Dr. William Parker to come in and meet his new patient, but WITHOUT gloves! Dr. Parker was more than willing to make this a happy visit for Rayden so he took off his gloves. Rayden opened his mouth so wide and allowed him to count all his teeth using the mirror. Dr. Parker said Rayden has plenty of space in his mouth for permanent teeth and he could tell that he brushes his teeth because they look so shiny. 

Rayden got some children's toothpaste and was able to pick out a green toothbrush (his favorite color). He even got to pick a treat (green fish) from the treasure box. Overall I would say this first dental visit was a success. He was able to explore the dental office, see Mommy's x-ray's on the tv screen, and meet some wonderful new people. Brandy has always said that Rayden is a "Ray of sunshine."