Thursday, January 24, 2008

Olivia Goes to the Dentist

Today was Olivia's first dentist appointment - ever. I don't know when you're really supposed to take your child for the first time. At a year? At two? Who knows. I get different opinions. Needless to say, she's had dental insurance since she was about a year or just over.

She'll be three in a couple of weeks. So, I figured it was time. I got online, pulled up a list of recommended dentists in the area by our insurance company and booked an appointment with the dentist closest to our home.

At Mums and Tots on Monday, a mother mentioned that she was bringing her daughter to the dentist later that day. I mentioned that I was bringing Olivia on Thursday for her first appointment. Her response, "Nice. Are you bringing her to Dr. Fisher? He is wonderful with kids. We had the best experience last time. He does this and that to make your child comfortable. He's just so good!"

Okay, I had never heard of Dr. Fisher. When I mentioned that I had booked the appointment with someone else closer to our home, she gave me the, "Umm humm. Good luck to ya! Dr. Fisher is the best" look.

Note to self: Learn from this mother's mistake. You look really bad and snooty when, even inadvertently, you make another mother feel like an idiot.

After noticing her expression and tone of voice, for a second, I start to panic, thinking I'm bringing my kid to the wrong dentist. I'm a horrible mother. Everyone must bring their kid to Dr. Fisher. Why don't I know this? Then, I compose myself. It's a dentist. Come on.

So, this morning, Olivia didn't get up until 9:45. So, I had to rush her out the door to the dentist. Her appointment was at 10:30 and I had never been to that particular office before. In the rush, I forgot my camera. Of course.

I didn't think I would miss much, as far as photo opportunities go, because what antsy three-year-old sits nicely for a dentist? We had talked about what the dentist was going to do and she seemed interested. However, I still had no confidence that she would sit nicely and let someone look into her mouth and then polish her teeth. Surely not my Olivia.

Well, I was wrong. She was more cooperative than I think she's ever been in her life. She opened her mouth wide and even before he asked! She was quiet, didn't ask any questions, and sat in the chair with a proud, confident look on her face. As if to say, "I can do this mom! It's fun!"

He was a lovely dentist and I was so glad I stuck with my choice to stay with this dentist instead of caving in and going with the "popular" one.

Lately, Olivia has been much more reasonable and better behaved. Today, I stared at her sitting in the big dentist chair and glowed with pride!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nora went to a dentist back in Oct. and was an angel. She lifted up her dress and told the dentist, "I can't breastfeed my babies cuz my boobs are too small!"

The Dunns said...

How sweet! What a big girl! Daniel's first dentist appointment is coming up, too. Our kids are growing up. ;)

Amie Davis said...

What a great story! She is turning into a nice young lady!

Angie said...

I'm glad to hear that Olivia's appointment went well. I've been meaning to make an appointment for awhile for Ashlyn. It's amazing how they will do things so much better for others. When I try to fix Ashlyn's hair, I sometimes have to wrestle with her, literally. When she goes somewhere to get her hair cut, she just sits there like a big girl.