First Dentist Appointment

Today was Reagan's FIRST dentist appointment! I wish I could say that it went smoothly and all went well, but unfortunately, it wasn't the best experience. I thought I did all the right things to prepare her ... I told her all about the dentist the last couple weeks and then over the weekend, I kept reminding her she'd be meeting Dr. Galitsis on Monday. She was so excited! One of the times I brought up meeting him, she even said, "I'll need to shake his hand!" Before bed last night, I mentioned it one more time (I usually tell her our plans for the following morning, something for which to look forward) ...

So, when she woke up, I reminded her it was time to go meet Dr. Galitsis. She casually said, "I don't want to go to the dentist." Nervous, I started talking it up like it was going to be the best, most wonderful experience of her life! Maybe this was my big mistake because the more I talked it up, the more disinterested she became. Then she started getting nervous and upset. Soon, it turned into adamant shouts, "I'm NOT going to the dentist!"

I'll admit, I was starting to panic. Reagan had an appointment and we simply had to show up ... the week before, I had to cancel MY dentist appointment at the last minute because John ended up having an unexpected meeting and I had no babysitter. I felt bad about my last-minute cancellation, so I knew I couldn't do it again. I also didn't want to give Reagan the "power" to decide whether or not we went. On the flip side, I was so terrified of scaring her to death or traumatizing her of the dentist ... I NEVER enjoyed my dentist visits when I was a kid and the thought of them gave me a great deal of anxiety. I clearly remember a time when I was young that I was SO tense in the dental chair while getting a filling that I gave myself a horrific tension headache, which turned into a migraine when I left. I was trying SO hard to start Reagan off the right way.

So, my question is this: Why did she suddenly not want to go? I realize that most people refer to "going to the dentist" with a fairly negative attitude ... yet, I honestly don't believe Reagan has ever been exposed to this. Is it something inherent in each of us? Were we all tortured by evil dentists in a previous life? You know, like Steve Martin in the movie Little Shop of Horrors? If you don't know what I'm talking about, click on this YouTube Link for the funny "I'll Be A Dentist" song. I haven't seen that movie in years, but watching this video made me laugh ~ I remember it so well :)

Okay, back to my story about Reagan. By the time we were supposed to leave, she was screaming. When I say screaming, I mean screaming a high-pitched scream that I'm certain was a few decibels away from shattering the windows. When I say I dragged her to the car "kicking and screaming," I'm not using this as a figure of speech. It was awful. One of my worst parenting moments thus far. All the while, I kept questioning my judgement. As we drove the quick 5 minute drive (if that) to his office in Westwood, she calmed down a little bit and I used the opportunity to do what any good parent would do in my situation: Negotiate. It went something like this: "Reagan, if you're a good girl at the dentist, I'll take you to the store after and buy you anything you want!" Pathetic, right? Like I said, I was desperate.

When we finally entered the office, she was crying softly. I figured once we got there, she'd loosen up, since everyone at this office is super nice. Sure enough, the staff was determined to make it a good experience. While I filled out the paperwork for her, Carol (the dental hygienist who always cleans my teeth) came out to the waiting room with a big stuffed animal and toothbrush. She asked Reagan to brush his teeth for her while I filled out the paperwork. This worked like a charm and Reagan was all smiles. I was able to talk to her about seeing Dr. Galitsis and I told her all he was going to do was look at her teeth and count them. I told her I'd let him count my teeth first to show her it wasn't scary. She loved this idea. Then she said, "how about if he counts your teeth instead of mine." I said, "Okay, I'll go first and you can go after me." Her response was the same response she's been giving for just about every request the last week, "I don't think so."

Carol walked us into the room and Reagan insisted that I sit on the chair. Carol was wonderful with Reagan. She showed Reagan all the cool tools and gadgets she works with (the chair, the big overhead light, the mirror, the scraper tools, the polishing tool, the latex gloves, the mask she wears on her face, etc.). She let Reagan use the polishing tool on the teeth of the stuffed animal so she'd see exactly what it did. Then she put together a goody bag full of random things like latex gloves, doctors masks, toothbrushes, etc. Despite how accommodating and great Carol was, Reagan still wouldn't open her mouth and show her teeth. Carol even tried to coax her by saying she wanted a picture of her teeth, but that didn't work either.

Carol took this of Reagan and me ... I only had the camera on my iPhone ~ I had every intention of grabbing my camera before I left the house, but Reagan's temper-tantrum had me too frazzled and I left in a frenzy without it.

Here's Reagan picking out a toothbrush with Carol ... she ended up giving her 2 Pink Piglet brushes

NOT a good picture, but I snapped it quickly with my iPhone at a horrible angle with no flash. That's Dr. Galitsis in the background. He is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. When I told him I was pregnant with Reagan, I couldn't believe how genuinely excited he was for John and me. He has 2 children, a boy and a girl, and it is obvious that they mean the world to him. When Reagan was born, we sent him an announcement and he sent us a big gift basket. Who receives a gift basket from their dentist?! Anyway, he was great with Reagan ... he kind of kept his distance and didn't put any pressure on her, just got to know her a little. Reagan was pretty warmed up by then, so the first thing she said when he walked in was, "My name's Reagan!"

So ... I guess it wasn't all that bad, since she left the office happy. But she never opened her mouth, so we've got to work on that for next time. As we were leaving, Carol asked Reagan if she'd take home the other stuffed animal (a big purple bug with teeth like the yellow dog in the above picture) and babysit it. She gave her one of the giant toothbrushes and told Reagan to brush its teeth everyday ... she also asked her to come up with a name for the creature. So, I've got to figure out when to take Reagan back. Should I do it soon, within the next couple weeks? Or should I wait a while? Maybe I'll wait until after Preschool starts in the fall and see if Ms. Lisa will do a theme on Dentists one day!