Yesterday was a big day for D1.  He had a dental appointment, to have a tooth filled.  He’s got what they call hypoplastic teeth, which the dentist explained to me means that some of his teeth came in chalky, rather than solid.  It makes his teeth at a huge risk for cavities.  He had to have one molar filled yesterday, and we have another to do in November.  I was really concerned about this whole situation.  D1 gets very panicky about needles. I did NOT tell him he was going to have one in his mouth.  I told him they need to scoop out the bad part of the tooth and fill it with hard substance so that his tooth won’t go bad.  That part, he got.  I didn’t mention the drill, either.  This kid is Mr. Wood Shop, and I know just the thought of a drill in his mouth would send him over the edge.

I called the dentist’s office several times, discussing the feasibility of even DOING this unsedated. They were willing to refer him to a dentist that uses sedation, but I also don’t want to put him through that unnecessarily.  So we decided to just see how it went.  When we got there I told him that if it seems to be too much for him to handle, we WILL stop and we WILL leave.

I’m really proud of my boy!  He did really good.  I did prearrange for them to keep the needle and drill out of his sight until the time they were needed, and they used topical novacaine first so that he didn’t feel the injections too badly.  The drill sound was freaky for him and I told him he could squeeze my hand as tight as he needed to. He didn’t squeeze very much but his feet were pretty antsy.

Afterward, he got up and came and sat on my lap, and I asked him how he was doing.  He had these huge tears in his eyes and a weird smile on his face (this is his panic face) and he said “Fine”, took a big breath, and burst into tears.  I just held him for a few minutes, then we went to the prize box and he picked out something that broke about an hour after we got home.  But he did do really good.  I’m very thankful to our dentist’s office for working with us.  We’ve been there for 16 years, and he knows us SO WELL.  I considered transferring to a pediatric dentist when D1 started seeing the dentist, because of his developmental delays, but I’m glad we stuck with Dr. B.  He does great with all of my kids.