The d-d-d-d-dentist!!

Last night I had to go the dentist. I had chipped a molar and it started to hurt over the weekend. I was lucky to get an appointment at 6.30pm last night as they are usually booked weeks in advance. Ethan wanted to come with me, and I was happy to take him. I wanted him to experience going to the dentist and the Smile Studio is a great place for him to do that. They have movies playing on a TV attached to the roof, lots of toys for kids to play with, and Adam (my dentist) is just fantastic. He always makes me feel great, even when I haven't been to see him for ages!
I actually ended up being *this close* to needing a $900 root canal, but thankfully I only needed a standard filling. My tooth had broken because there was a cavity, and the tooth had just caved in.

Anyway, Ethan was really well behaved. He sat on the floor and played with toys and looked at books. Adam kept explaining to Ethan all the things he was doing as he went along (he does that anyway, which is SO awesome, why can't all dentists do that?) ... "look at these cool sunglasses that your mummy gets to wear" … "now I'm taking all the yucky stuff out of mummy's tooth, and I'm using this cool drill, see?" … "now I'm filling mummy's tooth with this white stuff" … I think Ethan was pretty fascinated by it all. On the way home ($270 later), Ethan was telling me that he would like to go there again, and he would like to sleep there overnight, in the dentist's chair! Because it would be "so much fun!"

I'm glad Ethan has had a positive introduction to the dentist. I remember being scared to death of the dental nurse and the "Murder House" and that fear stayed with me as I grew up, until I started going to the Smile Studio. They charge about $35 for kids to get an exam, but I think I'll take Ethan there instead of the (free) school dental therapist. I made an appointment with her a few months ago and she wasn't very friendly at all. I ended up having to cancel because the boys were sick, and I haven't been able to get hold of her to make a new time. After last night, I think I'll just spend the money and take Ethan to the Smile Studio. Now he's met Adam, he knows there are videos he can watch, and he's familiar with the place. So it should be a really positive experience. What a change from my childhood!