Tuesday, December 7, 2010

DENTIST!!

Gus had his very first dental appointment today.
He had a good time playing with the sun glasses Reese chose for him. These are supposed to block the bright dentist light from shining in their eyes. He also had a blast racing in the hall and digging through the prize basket.

Reese chose matching ones for himself. Here he is with his hygienist. He was not particularly cooperative at first during the "how often do you brush" questions. He did NOT want to lie down on the table even though they have flat screen tvs on the ceiling running kid movies. It was Beauty and the Beast while we were there.
But then he headed off for his very first xray. He actually kind of liked his heavy xray apron. He had to bite down on a flat xray paper (not that thing they shove way in the back for our molar xrays) just right in front. He was totally cooperative. I was shocked.
Then Reese got his teeth polished. He chose strawberry paste for the polisher.
He was super cooperative and followed instructions about not swallowing and let her use the rinse wand and the sucker wand.


Meanwhile Gus practiced brushing the alligator's teeth. Then he used it on himself too. Luckily they said they'd sanitized it.

Then the dentist counted all 4 of his teeth and smeared the fluoride goop on them and Gus was done! Next visit will be his first cleaning. She wants us to floss his bottom 2 teeth since they are pretty close to each other. She said not to worry that he has only 4 teeth at 17 months....it's not a race you know!


I took a photo of the computer screen showing Reese's upper xray. The bottom row of teeth are his baby teeth that are grown in and currently in use. See how perfectly shaped and aligned they are? The second row at the top of the screen are his permanent teeth still inside the jaw/gums. Looks weird, eh?


Here I've drawn lines to show you what you're seeing. The outline marked "extra" is an extra tooth. Mesiodens or supernumerary tooth is what they call it. That means extra tooth in fancy medical speak. They sometimes just erupt on their own and the dentist can do a normal in office extraction. Reese's is upside down with the "tooth" part facing up and the root facing down, so it will not grow out on it's own. We got a referral to an oral surgeon. They are not a pediatric oral surgeon, but this is who our dentist uses. I think if we'd have had a normal experience with Reese I'd probably be so happy to be referred to someone local (Silverdale), but the whole NICU experience makes me feel like we must go to a pediatric specialist for anything atypical. Of course Kitsap County has no pediatric specialists. Our ophthalmologist did a pediatric fellowship, but he still sees grown ups too. Of course any baby or preschooler in town probably goes to him. So these oral surgeons may be the same scenario. When go in for our consultation I will be sure to verify they do this sort of thing frequently on the under 4 set. I think this is more delicate than just removing a rotted tooth, so I want to know they know what they are doing. Since the tooth is right in the middle it has spread the permanent front teeth. Our dentist said he may need an orthodontist sooner than we'd normally have been referred.

4 comments:

Julie said...

I would go with the pediatric surgeon too. Mommy instinct is usually right.

Susana said...

I would want to go with a pediatric surgeon if at all possible too. I pray this works out well and goes smoothly for Reese (and you)! Hanna has had to have extractions, but no surgery several times and it makes me nervous every time.

Joe just let them do his first X-rays (finally) his last exam. Reese and Gus both look like they did amazing!! You are good to have already taken Gus in!! I am such a slacker. I always wait till they are around three. Go ahead and gasp:-). When Hanna was little "the age" was three, but since my others came along they seem to make it younger and younger each year--go figure...

JessieLeigh said...

I enjoyed all your pics and comments in this post! Really interesting! I found it amazing that they saw Gus so early... our dentist told us she didn't want to see G until she's 2 (and she has SIXTEEN teeth! ;)) Guess it just varies from one to the next, eh? (Those sunglasses are cute and make it more fun for them, I bet!)

FilmSnork said...

How did everything work out with the extra tooth? My daughter just had X-rays yesterday and the discovery is scaring me. I try not to worry, but when it comes to my kids I am the worst of all worriers.

Did they operate? If so, what age? How long did it take? Any complications?

We are seeing a surgeon tomorrow, but my last 24 hours have been spent searching for info (which is how I found your blog.)

If you see this and have time, please give me some insight. Thank you.