sugar bugs

{dental hygiene Kanye style}

I hated going to the dentist as a kid. My dentist was like a character out of a horror movie. He was tall, lanky, had long dark hair on his arms and he wore a little magnifying glass in front of his regular glasses that was typically splattered with blood. He was also a total sadist, but that is material for another post (or probably therapy session). I cried every time I went to the dentist. I stopped going there in my early twenties.

My new dentist is pretty awesome. After meeting him I realized that not all dentists were sociopathic creeps who liked torturing kids. I would go so far as to describe him as a nice guy. As a girl with dentist issues, that is as much as you're going to get from me.

Being the selfless mother that I am, I have tried not to let my distrust/ distain/ disgust with the dental profession rub off on my girl. When it came time to book her first dental visit I started to talk about how awesome going to the dentist is. It felt wrong lying right to my daughter's face, but I felt prepared for it after this Christmas and the whole Santa thing. 

Today was judgement day, the big appointment had arrived. We zipped Violet home after school for a thorough tooth brushing session. She had been up since before the sun so I was unsure how the event would unfold. 

When we arrived at the dentist's office she was pretty pumped to see a play area. We have a playroom full of toys at home but it cannot compete with the je ne sais quoi of the waiting room play area. There must be something special about really old, really germy toys. Kids love 'em. 

{calm before the storm?}

When a young female dental hygienist called Violet's name I was optimistic. Violet likes strangers who are women more than strangers who are men. The hygienist was sweet and made Violet feel totally comfortable. They talked about sugar bugs (I crossed my fingers Violet would not mention the mini-eggs I had in my purse) and dora toothbrushes - you know, the usual. 

She also got Violet to wear some super cool shades and convinced her to open her mouth so that she could count her teeth. The highlight of the visit was when Vi let the hygienist brush her two front teeth with that rubber electric toothbrush thing. Not too bad for a first visit. 

{I'm ready for this}

Things went downhill when the actual dentist arrived. He was kind, but Violet got nervous. Check out her face as he came into the room:

{there is no way I am letting that man near my mouth!}

She may not have had a thorough examination, but I don't think the experience was overly traumatic. Can we really hope for much more when dentists are involved?

xo

Em