First trip to the dentist

Our little one has quite a few chompers in his head by now. I figured it was about time to head on out to the dentist for an overall peak at his pearly-whites.I knew he had *most* of his front teeth and his 1st molars. His canines, or at least 3 of them, were breaking through the past 2 weeks. These canines have been the SLOWEST of this teeth to pop through and Tam has responded by gnawing on everything that fits in his mouth. He totally reminds me of "Suny the Biter" from the movie A Series of Unfortunate Events. Don't worry; he hasn't hung from any table edges yet, but there are bite marks on his bed rails.


Despite all these teeth, he is still missing one of his bottom lateral teeth...this means he only has 3 bottom front teeth instead of 4 currently. I was wondering if he would ever get this or not.

So we are off on the dental adventure...almost. First, I had to find a dentist in the area that accepts my insurance and will see young children. I admit it. I found our dentist via the internet and their classy/informative website. Plus, the receptionist sounded uber-nice on the phone.

This afternoon was the appointment. Tam didn't really have a clue where we were going, though he can point to his teeth if you ask him. Everyone at the office were very nice and friendly. Tam said to "Hi" to everyone, repeatedly. Even when he was reclining back, with the dentist's fingers in his mouth, he was trying to say "hi" to the assistants. Tam did a great job, and only squirmed and fussed a little bit.

The dentist looked over all his teeth. She was pretty confident that she felt the bottom lateral tooth in the gums and assured me that it would break through soon. She said that it isn't uncommon for 1 or 2 teeth to pop out of the "normal" order. So, we'll just wait and see about this. All his other teeth look fine...all 14 of them! Lastly, she brushed on a fluoride coating help with preventing cavities. All of this took about 15minutes...and by the end, squirmy Tam was ready to get down, which he emphatically told me repeatedly once the dentist's fingers were out of his mouth.

Overall, a great experience for kiddo. He got a free toy truck as a prize and made lots of friends.
My turn tomorrow :-)