Xac's Dentist Visit

Xac went to the dentist today to get two cavities filled. As instructed I put 8 mLs of medication in a sippy cup with some juice, which he helpfully handed to Xhaiden. When I caught this I tried to get Xac to drink some, and he wouldn't, so finally I tried the container trick. As you may know, a three year old will drink arsenic if you put it in a fun glass, cup or anything they think it would be cool to drink out of. So I got out the stemware that has not been opened since our wedding and poured the contents of his sippy cup in there. After fifteen minutes of clinking glasses and drinking my juice along with him, it was down. This was timed so we could be at the dentist office an hour after medicating. I didn't notice him ever really slow down like they said he would, but I took him in. Of course they asked me if I had medicated him. I said yes. Apparently most kids are acting punch-drunk when they go in, but not Xac. It's nice to know he can hold his liquor. (Where has he been practicing?) Anyhow, they put him in a papoose, which he fought, and gave him laughing gas, which he also fought, and managed to knock off his face several times. They turned on a movie for him. He screamed. I had no idea how they were going to make him open his mouth, but years of experience has come up with inventions for that purpose. Yikes. The whole time I was imagining how terrible it was for him, how he had no control over the situation, and how that must terrify him. I do not think that is a good thing to imagine. Xac fell asleep just as they finished drying the last filling. My poor baby! Well, he had two cavities, one was not too deep, but the other was quite deep, his tooth looked like a tulip when they were done drilling. They put something in to calm the nerve before they did the filling. I am so glad they knew to do that. The dentist told me it would have abscessed soon had I not got him in.

Well I'm not one to ignore my childrens' health. I do brush Xac's teeth at least every night, that is how I discovered these. But now I am on an anti-plaque warpath. Water is the only beverage I am going to allow in this house. The dentist identified juice and milk as a possible culprit and I think it's just not worth it. I think my teeth will do better for it too. Besides I like the idea of eating a whole food, rather than just the juice which lacks all the valuable fiber and basically just provides sugar. My mother in law also says they cook the juice - who cooks fruit? Another thing I was warned against is fruit snacks. Since I generally avoid anything that has corn syrup in it that's not a hard one. After all this, the next person that hands my kid a soda pop without checking with me is in trouble. Anyhow, now both my boys are taking fluoride too. The happy thing is that we probably will not have this problem with Xhaiden since I am starting early on fluoride, brushing and sticking to water. Xac should have pretty healthy adult teeth too, and I think all the others look good (the dentist would have said something, right?).