Fun at the Dentist

We had our bi-annual dental checkups the other day. Jillian was positive she had four cavities (she's my little hypochondriac) but she doesn't--Ben does. I've struggled with Ben's oral hygiene his whole life, but we had some major breakthroughs at this appointment.

It used to take two of us to brush his teeth, one to hold him down and the other to pry his mouth open and force the brush inside. For the longest time he refused to use toothpaste. I have a drawer full of different flavors, trying to find one he would tolerate...bubble-fruit, bubble-mint, fruity-mint, minty-fruit, regular mint, strawberry, orange, you get the idea. We finally found one he liked, Flouridex, the prescription sensitivity toothpaste our dentist prescribed for my sensitive teeth. At something like $25 a tube, I had a really hard time using it for Ben! Then Crest came out with a cinnamon flavor and he tolerates that now, but he spits about every two seconds while I'm brushing his teeth.

Whenever we went to the dentist, he wouldn't let them do anything besides look at this teeth. He hates the sound and feel of the polisher. He can't handle the bulky bite-wing x-ray things, they make him gag. He doesn't like any of the fluoride flavors. He covers his eyes (and his whole face) when the dentist shines the light on him.

A few weeks ago, he had a toothache. We went in to see what was going on, and yep, he had a cavity. I won't even describe how horrible it was to have it filled.

But Wednesday, he watched while I was having my teeth cleaned, and the hygienist said something to him that made a huge impression. While she was polishing my teeth, she started having a conversation with Ben, asking him how often he brushes his teeth, does he floss, all the normal questions. I felt like a horrible mom when he said he only brushes once a day (if she only knew what progress that was!) and she said,

"Well, you know, it's really important to brush at least twice a day because do you know what's on your teeth? Little bugs. It's normal for them to be there, but they poop and pee on your teeth and you have to get that off."

I glanced over at Ben out of the corner of my eye and he looked like he was going to throw up! I wanted to throw up! She continued to talk about how they poop and pee on your teeth and how brushing and flossing cleans it off. Ben sat there with a serious look on his face, but didn't say anything. Then another hygienist came and took him for his appointment.

He still had a hard time, but he let the hygienist polish a little and give him fluoride. His biggest accomplishment was letting her take bite-wing x-rays. And they found out he has four more cavities. We have a wonderful dentist, and after the horrible time Ben had with his last filling, he let Ben borrow a face mask he uses when giving nitrous oxide so that Ben can get used to it. He's going to need it for his next appointment.

Yesterday morning, the first thing Ben said when he woke up was, "Can I brush my teeth?"