Sparkly Teeth

Today was our much-anticipated first trip to the dentist. The girls had been learning about dental health in school during the last couple weeks, so we'd talked about what was going to happen. I'd also been talking with the staff at my dentist's office for two years about how this was going to go. Madeleine was convinced they were going to put glitter in her teeth.

They suggested that I bring them to my regular cleaning. The hygenist would explain everything she was doing to me during my cleaning. Then they would get to ride in the chair and see how comfortable the girls would be before proceeding.

We got there right at 8. The girls grabbed magazines off the rack to look at while we waited. Madeleine told me she wanted to play dentist at home, and they asked the receptionist if she was going to check their teeth.

Ms. Stacy was our hygenist. She got chairs for the girls to sit in, so they were right next to me. She showed them all the instruments, the light, and the chair. She did a quick check of my teeth and then proceeded cleaning with "Mr. Thirsty" and "Mr. Tickle." Lily talked pretty much the whole time, telling stories about a pretend farmer with green overalls. Madeleine asked questions about what was going on - what were the gloves for? whose teeth were in the pictures?

Madeleine sat in the chair first. I think she was most excited about wearing the special Ariel sunglasses. She rode up and down and carefully kept her hands in her lap. Stacy was able to look inside her mouth with the mirror and count teeth. She was also able to do a little bit of scraping. Stacy asked Madeleine if she wanted to try "Mr. Tickle," but Madeleine said, "No, not today."

Lily was a little more nervous in the chair, but she did all the same things Madeleine did. When they were done, Stacy let Madeleine try "Mr. Tickle" on her hand. The girls got little bags with toothpaste and a pencil to take home. On our way out the receptionist who overheard the girls talk about us playing "dentist" got us some surgical masks to wear. The girls gave Stacy big hugs and left happily with chocolate chip cookies.

Stacy said I can schedule them for a cleaning/checkup whenever I'm ready. They were some of the best new patients she's seen.