First trip to the Dentist

Mr. Alex had his first visit to the Dentist yesterday. Apparently "First year - First tooth" is the time to visit. So, we're pretty close to the 1 year, but he already has 8 teeth and is starting to have his molars come in.

Woodinville Pediatric Dentistry is a very nice place to take your kid. I found it in the paper and decided to make an appointment. They were quick to make an appointment and had convienent times available.

There were big stuffed chairs in the waiting room just for little ones. Alex was playing with the monkey chair and having fun point to the monkey nose and monkey ear, then Alex nose and Alex ear.

Alex's teeth look great and he has some "clean clickers" as we say in our household. The doctor pointed out that his molars are coming through, something that we didn't see yet. We knew he was teething because of the drool, but were finally able to see some little molars poking through. The appointment was more like dog training that an actual cleaning/exam. It was to "train" us parent-type people in how to clean his teeth and what to call the dentist for (Hand food and mouth and other blister type diseases of the mouth and any emergency, of course!). We learned how to brush his teeth better and they gave us a better toothbrush. They also gave us these wipes that we can use, as well.

I guess its a pretty big no-no to give your child a bottle in bed and the good news is that we haven't been doing that. He has a bottle, but then it's gone. We did learn that we need to brush his teeth more and that cavities are the number one disease of childhood.

Apparently preemies have an increased risk of enamal abnormalities and the Dr. was happy that we told her he was a preemie. She said she didn't see any signs of abnormalities on his teeth.

But, the reason that made me make the appointment was that he had chipped his front top tooth. She said that preemie teeth can be more brittle, so this might be the cause. But, we also told her how active he is and I think this is the real reason he chipped his tooth.

All in all - it was a nice experience and we're glad that there is such a nice place so close by.

Here's to Dentist appointments for Alex every 6 months for ~17 more years!