Dentist

Emilia had her first visit to the dentist today!  She did GREAT!!  I can't believe that it's already been 3 years since her very first tooth made it's debut.  Ever since that first tooth emerged, we have been diligent about establishing good brushing habits.  Having grown up with my mom as a hygienist, it's imperative!  I was never uncomfortable going to the dentist, so I was hoping for Emilia to be the same.  Leading up to the appointment, we tried our best to prepare her for the new experience, hoping it would be a good one.  We read books, answered lots of questions about the pictures in the books and pretended to be the dentist while brushing her teeth at night.  Emilia talked to Grandma about it, who told her about "Mr. Thirsty" and how the dentist was going to "tickle her teeth". 

We decided to take her to a pediatric dentist as we knew the environment would be the most fun.  I'm glad we did!  The hygienist was great.  Thanks to the paperwork they had us fill out, she was able to easily start a conversation with Emilia by bringing up things like her favorite color (purple), her favorite princess (Belle), her little sister (Olivia) and even her cat (Sophie).  The took the time to show her everything they were going to use and how it worked and made sure she was comfortable before even having her sit in the chair.  They were able to clean and floss her teeth, get bite wing x-rays, take her picture and then have the dentist exam her mouth. 

They did find a small cavity on one of her molars where the enamel never formed properly.  I told the dentist that she has mentioned that this tooth hurts "when she eats chips" but when I said this to the dentist, she quickly jumped in, defensively saying, "But my tooth doesn't hurt anymore."  The dentist determined that the tooth did have a sticky spot, so we have an appointment to get that taken care of in a couple weeks.  They will use "sleepy water" to numb the area and then do what they need to do to make sure it doesn't bother her.

The toughest part of her time there was deciding on which sticker and prize she wanted to choose.  She picked the Cinderella sticker (there weren't any Belle stickers) and a bracelet which she was really excited to show off to everyone we encountered for the rest of the day.  We are so thankful that the visit went well!