Tell me about what happened at the appointment. We had our first visit today and it didn't go so great.
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@looch: oh no, sorry to hear it didn't go well! what happened?
We haven't had ours yet. LO is 17 months so I'm not sure when to schedule his.
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Ours sucked too! DS was 2 and they wanted to count his teeth, touch his gums, do a quick brush.
He wanted none of it. I had to hold him down on my lap.
On his 5th visit at age 4 he FINALLY did well.
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@looch: How old is your LO? We haven't had our first appointment yet, but I was planning on going next year when Xander is 2.
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we went when charlie was 2, and it went great. we went to a place that deals with a lot of kids. they cleaned his teeth and brushed them with their super brusher and toothpaste. now he loves the dentist.
i thought olive would put up a battle (at 2), but she was fine too.
letting them watch a video helped, but charlie is fine now without!
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She was right about 2. They checked her teeth, brushed it and tried to floss it. There was a bit of crying but the hygienist bribed her with a couple rubber duckies.
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DS has had two visits, 15 months and 2 yrs. The first visit we sat in an office and the dentist counted his teeth while DS laid in my lap. The second visit he got to sit in the chair for a little bit. But they were taking too long and he started to lose it so we ended up in the office again with just a quick check. Our dentist doesn't attempt a cleaning until they are 3, unless he sees something during his quick check.
Hopefully your next visit is better!
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I didn't take LO, DH did but it went great. LO just went this summer and she's almost 2.5. The dentist had DH sit in the chair and then LO sit in his lap. They talked about what they were going to do, looked at her teeth, gave her a cleaning and some flouride. No cavities!
One thing we did to prepare was we talked about the dentist for at least a week in advance, like it was going to be something fun and exciting. We showed her a couple of kid videos about the dentist we found online, too.
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DS had is first visit when he cracked one of his teeth right before his 2nd birthday. He hated it and refused to open his mouth. He's had one since and it went a bit better. He won't sit on the chair by himself and cries for most of it. I'm hoping it gets better as he gets older.
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LO just had her first one a month or so ago, at about 26 months. She did much better than I expected. We went to a pediatric dentist, and since they only deal with kids day in and day out they were *amazing* with her.
They counted her teeth and “painted” them with fluoride (or something? I can’t remember). They also let her pick out a new toothbrush and asked her to show them how she brushes her teeth. She sat on my lap the entire time (I sat in the exam chair, LO sat on me).
One thing they did which I thought was smart was to do everything to me first. So first they asked if they could count my teeth and made a big deal about how fun it was and then asked if she wanted her teeth counted too. Well, of course then LO did! Same with the fluoride/whatever treatment. They said that they had already painted my teeth and I smiled real big so LO could look at my teeth and then she was fine with having her teeth “painted” too.
It’s been more than a month now and several times a week LO still asks to go back to the “doctor” to get her teeth counted again!!
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We went at 14m I think. LO didn't really care. They looked in his mouth and did a fluoride treatment. He had a toy and just sat there on my lap. I had asked for brushing technique advice and they demonstrated a headlock, which LO took offense to (as did I) and that was it. The actual appt was less than 5min.
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We haven't been because I don't want to pay $200 for my 2 year old to sit in a chair for 5 minutes, screaming her head off at the stranger trying to get into her mouth.
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Well, my son is older, he'll be 4 in December and I totally flaked on his dental appointment after he turned two. For some reason, we hadn't added him to our insurance, so he wasn't covered for dental.
In any event, we brush and I even have a dental mirror that I have been letting him hold in his mouth while I "check" his teeth with a little probe, just like they do at the dentist. I had been talking with him about going, but I hadn't thought to show him a video.
The problem seemed to be the chair, he did not want anything to do with it. After about 20 minutes of coaxing, I was able to convince him to let the hygenist look in his mouth with the mirror to check his teeth. No cavities, but he wanted nothing to do with her after that.
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@looch: would they let him sit in your lap?
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We went when DS was 18 months (2 months ago-ish). He did fine. He had more trouble waiting for the doctor to come in the room than anything else. Once the doc was there, the checkup was fine. DS sat in my lap, in the chair.
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@looch: how does he do at the Drs? My DS doesn't do well there either so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised!
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My first DD, at around 2.5 yo, started crying when they called her name to go into the room... She didn't feel ok about going to the dentist til about 4-5 yo! During that time, we went through 3 ped dentists, not only because of her reaction to the visits, but because of moving and schedules too.
We finally found an awesome dentist who is truly patient and engaging with kids. My 2nd DD went to her first at 15 months and did well (they just looked at her teeth). At almost 2.5 yo, she had her first cleaning and did pretty ok. At just turned 3yo, she had her 2nd cleaning and did really great!
Hope your LO's next visit goes better!
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He does really well at the doctor's office, he was asking me why we were at this office, and not his ped's office, so I think that might have thrown him off as well.
Then I tried to sit in the chair with him and it was kicking and burying his head in my neck, refusing to budge. And I am wearing a wrap dress today, I was flashing the entire office.
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My LO's first appt was at about 16 months, I think. The dentist did a pink stain thing on her teeth to see the trouble spots, swab for cavity causing bacteria, fluoride treatment, floss/clean/polish-- basically, the works! LO laid on my husband (I was very pregnant) but she pretty much screamed the entire time and was held down by a few assistants. I guess this is the normal procedure for those that don't cooperate bc a few of my friends' kids go there too and it's the same thing. The dentist is highly recommended but isn't a cutesy type. I know some dentists are more relaxed about teeth at that age and more into just establishing a brushing/flossing routine, but not this guy.
We dreaded taking her in for her 2nd visit at 22 months (I even looked into other dentists more toddler friendly) but she did incredibly well!! Same thorough dental routine but she followed the dentist's instructions to open wide, etc, and no tears. We prepared the week in advance by showing her some clips on youtube and just talking about it. She got a sticker/prize at the end. It's been a couple months and she happily pretends she is going to the dentist now!
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Age 2, DH took her so I only know second hand. He said she was fantastic during the cleaning. We went to a pediatric dentist, so the office was super kid friendly. They let her hold the cup with the cleaning paste in it and they had to stop every tooth because she was laughing that it tickled. But she did really well overall.
He did say that they didnt get x-rays because she refused to keep the little cardboard thing in her mouth.
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My 2.5 year old went for the 2nd time this week and it went surprisingly well. At his first appt, he was just under 2 years, and the Dr. simply laid him back and counted teeth, scraped a little plaque, and checked for cavities. My kid cried the whole time.
But this time we watched episodes of Daniel Tiger and Peppa Pig where they go to the dentist over and over, and I think that really helped prepare him. They did a full cleaning, flouride, and x-rays with no fussing or fighting. He took a couple breaks during everything, just because it's hard for a 2 year old to sit for 15 minutes.
It also probably didn't hurt that we go to a pediatric dentist, and they keep a train table in between cleaning stations. So anytime he wanted a break, they'd give him a few minutes to get down and play. He also got to hold a few trains while they were cleaning and while the dentist was checking things out, so that just thrilled him.
I was terrified of the dentist as a child, so I'm hoping my son will have less fear than I did about dentists and doctors.
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