Conor had his first dentist appointment last week. We talked to our pediatrician and he recommended a dentist that is good with special needs children. I was pretty worried about taking him. He freaks out in all situations that require anyone getting near him (haircut, pediatrician, ear doctor, etc.).
This is the only picture I was able to get of him before his appointment. He's on the floor climbing through the chairs...typical Conor.
After waiting just a few minutes we headed back to the dentist area. Conor picked out a movie (Moana) to watch while he got his teeth cleaned. Each child picks out their own movie that plays above their dentist chair. The dental assistant brought out a few stuffed animals that had very large teeth. He picked out the alligator and then was given a really large toothbrush. She let Conor look at the alligator, touch it, and then try and brush his teeth. We counted the teeth and talked about why the alligator needed to clean his teeth, etc. She spent about 15 minutes playing with this alligator with Conor. The dentist watched from afar to see how Conor was reacting. Conor refused to let the dental assistant look in his mouth at all. But, he did agree to sit on my lap after about 10 minutes without a fit, so that was great!
The dentist headed over next to talk to Conor. He brought over a large monkey and went over brushing teeth again for about 10 minutes, using the monkey as a guide. The dental assistant took this picture of us and printed it while the dentist was talking with us.
Conor freaked out a little when the dentist asked to look in his mouth. The dentist wasn't at all surprised and brought out a pillow and another chair for me. We just sat knee to knee with Conor's head on the pillow in the dentist's lap. He looked in his mouth, while Conor was kicking and screaming and throwing a huge fit, and didn't see anything concerning at all. I loved that it did not seem to phase the dentist at all! I always feel really embarrassed when Conor throws a fit, but they are so used to it at this dentist that it didn't matter. We didn't even clean his teeth, but left feeling good about our first trip to the dentist. They mentioned that the goal is to try and go one step further each time, even if it takes us 5 times before they are able to clean his teeth. They were so patient and so kind and it was a great first trip.
This is not the same experience we have had at the older boys dentist visits. They have both always cooperated, but we leave the dentist feeling defeated and the boys being nervous about the experience. I will definitely be switching my older children.
Conor really loves cookies, so we celebrated with a chick-fil-a cookie and lemonade.
So proud of my little guy! I know it was not easy for him!
