Well, I've been a bit of a slacker and hadn't gotten Emma into see a dentist yet. I know the AAP recommends a visit by the time kids are a year old, but my dentist said by 5 years old, and I figured they have been having a dental hygienist visit the preschool every year for a visual inspection and fluoride application, so I thought we were safe. Anyway, I figured I should finally get Em's teeth checked while we are off on spring break, so I made an appointment for this morning. She was very excited and has been talking about "seeing the dentist and opening my mouth wide, like this (*insert mental picture of gaping mouthed preschooler here)!" So I figured we were good to go. Nope. Not once we got taken in the back and she was asked to actually sit on this big green chair covered in plastic and lots of strange people were wandering around with masks over their faces. She straight flipped out. Clinging to me, crying, refusing to extricate her face from where it was buried in my neck etc etc etc. I tried logical reasoning, soothing, a stern voice, the usually very effective, "Emma I need you to follow directions NOW"... nothing was going to work. And then.... I turned into "that" parent. Yes, I resorted to bribery. There is a certain hunk of garish pink plastic that Emma has been drooling over for the past 6 months. A little treasure called a "Baby All Gone." She has been asking for one since right after her 3rd birthday. I didn't get her one at Christmas because she already had a cabbage patch doll coming. Well, every time we visit Wal-Mart, Target, ToysRUs, etc she asks to go "just see the baby all gone dolly, pleeeeeease Mommy." I have been repeating the "maybe for your next birthday" mantra for half a year. And today, her love for Baby All Gone was enough to get compliance out of her. I promised her one if she followed all the directions and sat in the chair by herself (at this point she was in my lap in the exam chair) and she couldn't cry. She agreed. Tears stopped, smiles were wavery but held strong, and I sat in a chair next to her holding her hand. After all that drama, she did great! Cleaning, rinsing, Xrays, being tapped with the "metal toothpick" - it was all handled with nary a word of complaint. And then we got the news that Emma had the unlucky misfortune to inherit my proclivity for bad teeth. Poor baby has 3 cavities! The dentist said we "could" try filling them here & see if she does okay or we could get an immediate referral for a pediodontist. I choose the referral and we were on our way next door to get Baby All Gone. Then we had to have a little talk about how this was a one time only treat and we don't usually get toys after the dentist but we still have to follow directions. She says she understands. We'll see come Friday morning when she has her follow up visit for the cavities...
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