Thursday, May 21, 2009

Lilith's first trip to the Dentist

I meant to take photos but considering they had her laying on me in the chair, it was kind of impossible. Will was having his teeth cleaned in the next room while all of this was going on. She has 20 teeth and they are all good. I was counseled that her mouth is very small and that her baby teeth, while straight and evenly spaced, are close enough together that they can see major orthodontics in her future. They are telling me this with a, "Gee I hope this mother won't be shocked and upset by this news." face. What they don't know is that I had over 4 teeth pulled for my major orthodontics's and almost every single one of my baby teeth had to be extracted because they wouldn't come out on their own. Oh, yes, I saw the dentist a lot as a child! Luckily my dentist was a scuba diver and had all sorts of underwater photos and a "real" treasure chest filled with toys and goodies that you got to pick from after each visit. My orthodontist had an office that overlooked San Fransisco bay. He was also a sailor and had photos and sailing mobiles/wind chimes all over his office. Every time I hear the the song, "Sailing" by Christopher Cross, I remember being in the orthodontist chair and the lovely view. I also remember how my mother would always want to go to some fancy restaurant right after each appointment, and how I would always end up taking my dinner home in a doggie bag because I couldn't chew! Maybe this is where my love of clam chowder comes from. I remember ordering it frequently during those visits.
My poor husband is looking at having adult orthodontics started. You don't want to hear what the dentist said about the high, multiple doses of antibiotics he must have had as an infant that caused his adult teeth to be discolored as they were forming, or about how his mother had government jobs with government insurance most of his childhood but never seemed to take him to the dentist, much less to the orthodontist! I love my mother in law most days, really I do..and I have a bridge to sell you if you believe that.
Lilith did very well until she decided it was over. She had 90% of her cleaning done and announced, "I'm done." She meant it too. She went from holding her mouth open and even holding the suction and suctioning her own mouth to kicking me in my full bladder and trying to hit the hygienist with the suction. The poor hygienist raised and lowered the chair, blew air on her cheek and hand, made peek a boo with the mask all to no avail. She just kept repeating, "I'm done" till she was screaming it. Then she got to sit in a little chair and watch me have my cleaning. She was very patient and good for this, thank goodness. It is always bad when your 2 year old (and even worse when they look big enough to be a 3 or 4 year old) decides to throw a fit in public. I can't help but flash back to the days when I was single and thought I would never have children and would see some child having a public tantrum. I remember thinking, "Why don't they just leave, why would they bring a small child to a place like this, does this child always act like this, and why are they just ignoring what their child is doing???", etc. Keeping all of that in mind, I know people are thinking that about us during times like that. That doesn't help matters any. I must say that I was very grateful that she behaved as well as she did and for as long as she did. This doesn't mean that I am going to try to take her to any adult movies (Even though I would kill to see the new Star Trek movie), and push my luck however. Now we will see how she does in 6 months at her next scheduled cleaning!

No comments: