The first trip to the dentist

After writing a piece for Up All Hours.com about the rise in tooth decay in children. We panicked. I will be completely honest, B is 3, and has never been to the dentist.

There I was researching the statistics and speaking with experts about the importance of regular check ups, only to then realise that we hadn’t adhered to any of the professional advice.

So playing it cool I called our local dentist. I was very surprised at how easy it was to get him registered and booked in for an appointment the following week. For some reason I thought it was going to be a nightmare with a long waiting list. I was wrong and it couldn’t have been easier.

We have always made an effort with encouraging B to brush his teeth morning and night, and to make it something that he doesn’t see as a chore, or a bore for that matter!

So the responsibility fell to Daddy A to take B to the dentist. A combination of me being at work and being a drip. I was genuinely nervous that B’s teeth weren’t going to be up to scratch and knew how mortified we would both be if it was something that we could have avoided.

B was amazing and took the whole experience in his stride. He left with his Daddy actually excited about seeing the Dentist, a credit to his father who has an amazing ability to make everything appear exciting!

As it turned out the dentist was most impressed with his little teeth. Clean and perfect he said. The translucent bottoms of the teeth are normal for milk teeth as are the white spots on some of his teeth are also to be expected.

It is all really good to know.

Interestingly, we learnt that the jaggered front tooth he has, is actually two teeth fused together. We won’t know until he is older, 6+,  if this is this is something which could be a problem. But overall, good news. Phew!

Here are our personal top tips:

– Make brushing their teeth fun. Get a ‘cool’ toothbrush. Comic book heros are normally a winner. He has a Spider-Man        tooth brush which definitely helps with the process;
– Let them do it themselves too, B really enjoys having a good go himself;
– Brush your teeth with them. We get B to remind us to brush ours so he feels like he’s in control as opposed to ‘forcing’    him to brush his;
– Take a toy to the dentist as support. Alfie accompanied B during his visit, and the dentist even gave his teeth a check up!

For more information and top tips visit the article ‘Are we rotting our children’s teeth?’ on Up All Hours where dentists and nutritionists offer their words of advice.

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