About Distracted Daddy
Distracted Daddy is a working father with a two-year-old daughter, a focused wife and a flatulent pug. When he’s not distracted he blogs about poop, parenting and other things at distracteddaddy.com.
First Dental Check-Up/Check-In
the fatherlode: dentist visit canada
(Nov.24.11)
Every four months or so, I have a stalker. This stalker calls me at work, at home, and even calls my wife to get a hold of me. This stalker is my dentist. They want to see my teeth and they want to be reimbursed by my insurance.
Now that I have a dependent (my daughter) they want to see her insurance reimbursement too.
So on the dentist’s suggestion, we took our two-year old in for a check-up. It was her first check-up. The whole world of fluoride and whitening and flossing and drilling and soft Kenny G music was new to her. She’s never been before. She’s barely had teeth for a year.
It took us months to even realize that we were responsible for brushing those new teeth. Surprise, new parental responsibility – having another set of teeth to care for.
Does it even matter if she gets a mouthful of cavities? Her teeth are baby teeth. They’re temporary. They’re going to fall out and like a shark she’s probably got dozens ready to replace them.
Off to the dentist we went. For the first time, I was hoping someone else didn’t have bleeding gums or acid buildup and planning to lie about how someone else flossed regularly.
She sat on Mommy’s lap, while Dr. Isaac Yankem, DDS looked at her teeth. She opened her mouth and said ‘ah’ and showed the man with the rearview mirror on a stick her teeth. And that was pretty much it. Her teeth looked fine. Four out of five dentists agreed.
There were no X-rays where you have to bite down on that hard piece of cardboard. No hose that sucks all the moisture out of your mouth. No half hour of plaque scraping. Just a quick look.
Then my daughter received a toy. An actual toy, not a sample of minty floss or toddler-sized toothpaste tube.
The first visit was, of course, free. The dentist just wanted to get my daughter into the system. Somewhere down the road there is a down payment on an orthodontist’s boat that I’ll be financing.
Until then my daughter has a bouncy ball from her first visit to the dentist. It was a good visit. She wasn’t afraid and she was cavity free.
It was a painless experience – for her. I had to stay and get a cleaning.
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