Dentist Question

[LovinBeingMommy]

Monkey needs to go to the dentist. Mostly because he's three and hasn't been yet. I mostly am wanting to introduce him to the concept at this point, not much more. ;) I have a question, though... Do they do fluoride on kids that young? If they do, is it really that good for him? If not, please explain why, just so I can know. ;) Can I opt out of them doing that to him if it's not good?

[WildFlower]

YES they do fluoride that young in the office. it's like a gell they wipe on their teeth and wipe it back off:shrug3 You will get differing opinions on fluoride. I think it can help, especially with at-risk individuals. I opted to let the dentist do fluoride on dd's teeth. She gets NO fluoride in drinking water since we are on a well and she has had cavities. So the small amount of fluoride at the dentist office and once a day in her toothpaste seemed beneficial to her. You CAN opt out if you wish though. Her first cleaning was when they did her crowns under sedation and the dentist said I could opt out of fluoride and sealants. I opted out of sealants but ok'd the fluoride. I felt like there were more risks with the sealants failing and causing more cavities than the risks from the fluoride.:shifty

---------- Post added at 09:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:55 PM ----------

oh and I wanted to say you might be prepared for him to be a bit leary of people looking in his mouth. He may do just fine, since he's 3 and had no prior negative experience with dentists. But I had seen you mention SPD before and I know my dd has lots of issues with the dentist looking in her mouth. We have to hold her down to even just LOOK. But the dentist we take her too always lets me stay and help hold her.

[LovinBeingMommy]

oh and I wanted to say you might be prepared for him to be a bit leary of people looking in his mouth. He may do just fine, since he's 3 and had no prior negative experience with dentists. But I had seen you mention SPD before and I know my dd has lots of issues with the dentist looking in her mouth. We have to hold her down to even just LOOK. But the dentist we take her too always lets me stay and help hold her.

This is exactly why he hasn't been yet. I have a feeling it will be a big deal to him. I like the dentist I see and think he'll be pretty good with him, but it could still be quite the adventure. I can't keep putting it off much longer, though, because he's on medicaid and they've been pushing me to take him in since his first birthday. :doh My goal is to keep it as low-key as possible. Since this guy has seen me and knows I don't do particularly well having things in my mouth, hopefully he'll understand with Monkey, too. He's sooo much better than the guy I had as a kid. He just got mad at me and called me a baby. :mad

[mamacat]

You can ask that they just do things like counting his teeth and looking at them for that first visit and can even practice ahead of time at home

[aleigh]

FYI- neither of my kids would let the hygenists near their teeth on the 1st visit. They didn't push it- they would rather have the kids not be scared. The dentist just counted their teeth. They were both willing to have them cleaned on the 2nd visit.

[Luciola]

Bbl

[mommylove]

Mind you, I haven't watched the whole episode, but here's a Berenstain Bears episode (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHExQeY9FP8)where they go to the dentist. I wonder if that would put her at ease?

[LearningMama]

We took DS to the dentist last Friday because he chipped a tooth. Does Monkey have any allergies? I put down a peanut allergy on ds's form and because of that they did not do the fluoride. If you google it people with a peanut allergy may react to the fluoride varnish.

He did really well. We watched a few dentist videos online throughout the day before we went. He started to cry when we put him in the chair by himself so instead he say on my lap. Then the hygienist gave him a goodie bag, a balloon, and a toy. After he drank some water (drinking calms him down) he was fine.
Here is a picture :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v310/Blaquepua/20130208_095131_zpsd6c8c663.jpg

[LovinBeingMommy]

We took DS to the dentist last Friday because he chipped a tooth. Does Monkey have any allergies? I put down a peanut allergy on ds's form and because of that they did not do the fluoride. If you google it people with a peanut allergy may react to the fluoride varnish.


I can't believe no one ever told my mom this! :jawdrop My brother could have DIED. :mad Monkey doesn't have any allergies that we know of, at this point, so nothing listed for him.

I think I'll ask them to keep it super simple for our first visit. My schedule with school is really crazy right now, so I'll probably put it off a couple more months, which gives us lots of time to talk about it and make it sound like a good idea. The dentist I go to has a toy basket kids get to pick from when they're done and they get a toothbrush, toothpaste and floss in a cute bag. :rockon