Sparkling pearly whites!

Last week, Ethan had his first visit to the dentist.  I know we should have brought him when he was about two or two-and-a-half, but I was searching for a good pediatric dentist, fussypot that I am.  Anyway, I stumbled on this pediatric dentist’s site and the pictures in his clinic looked really cool; with soft toys everywhere and smiling kids, I knew this was where Ethan could go.

I promptly made an appointment, and although we arrived at the clinic a little late, we quickly registered (while Ethan busied himself with Super Mario Bros.) and were ushered in.  I went in with Ethan while Pete stayed in the reception area with Hannah.

The dentist’s examination room was nothing like the regular dental clinic.  It almost seemed like a child’s playroom!  Ethan immediately went for the Ikea bolster thingy, which coincidentally was the identical one he has at home.

Then the dental assistant got Ethan to warm up by giving him a giant toothbrush to brush the “dino”‘s teeth:

It was funny cuz Ethan wanted to brush his own teeth at first! 🙂

Next, the dentist came in and explained that he would just be checking Ethan’s teeth and *counting* them.  Unfortunately, despite Ethan saying “okay” back home when I told him what the dentist would be doing, he refused to lie down.  So I had to hold Ethan, one leg on either side of my waist, then I faced the dentist, and lowered Ethan’s head so his teeth could be checked.

There was some buildup along the gumlines of some of his teeth, but thankfully no cavities.  As usual, the dentist asked Ethan to brush at least twice a day and floss too.  And as expected, when his teeth was counted, he had only 18: the 2 missing teeth were his two bottom incisors, just like Daddy’s. 😛

We were then ushered to the x-ray room where Ethan was the perfect angel while his teeth x-rays were taken.

No fuss, no mess…he just bit on a piece of material for the x-ray to be taken, then his teeth picture was snapped; twice: once for the top jaw and once for the bottom.

Here’s his anxious look waiting for the x-rays to be ready.

Well, that soon turned to happiness when he was asked to choose a balloon: Ethan chose the red one:

His teeth x-rays looked fine, and we could see the permanent teeth below his milk teeth.  It is possible though that he will still take after Pete and have 2 incisors missing in the bottom jaw.

Oh, and before we left the clinic, Ethan was asked to choose a toy too.  He is very into musical instruments, so he chose a purple recorder!

We were told to make another appointment for cleaning of his teeth, so I did.  And his teeth-cleaning appointment was 2 days ago…

I had explained to Ethan that it would just be a very simple brushing and cleaning and he would get a balloon and toy after that.  On the way to the clinic, he was all, “I wanna see Mr Dentist!”

But as soon as the dental assistant was ready to start the cleaning procedure, Ethan looked very troubled and began sobbing.  He lied down on the bench-like chair (totally flat, not reclinable like a regular dentist’s) and looked very upset.  Maybe he wasn’t very sure what to expect, but after a few minutes of consoling and reassurance (and me holding a red balloon for him) he quietened down, wore his *sunglasses* and had his teeth cleaned.

The dental assistant did the following:

• flossed his teeth
• brushed his teeth with a toothbrush to show me (and Ethan) the correct way of brushing
• cleaned his teeth with a rubbery vibrating tool
• wiped his mouth and teeth dry with cotton gauze
• applied flouride *bubble bath* on the teeth
• wiped his teeth again

Ethan was to refrain from food and drnks for half an hour after that.

Good job, Ethan!  Look at how sparkling clean his teeth are now!

And this is the toy he chose:

Looks like I’ll have to get him a balloon and toy the next time he visits a dentist in Malaysia!