First dental visit

I posted a little over a month ago about having concerns about Elena's top front teeth. She has had some yellowish colored spots on them and I had the pediatrician look at them to see what she thought it was. Her thought was that it was either the start of decay or damage to the enamel. So, I made an appointment with my old pediatric dentist, Dr. K. While I was at it, I went ahead and asked to schedule an appointment for Joshua, explaining my concerns and wondering if they were willing to see an autistic child and an infant. Usually they do not see kids until they are 3 years old, but after explaining that Dr. K. was my old dentist and the bad experiences I had prior to going to see him, the woman I was talking to agreed to talk to him and he agreed to try seeing them both. I figured, if they can handle an autistic child and a one-year old, they'd be able to handle Jacob with no problems, and we'd make an appointment for him later. ;)

Well, I prepared Joshua as best I possibly could this weekend. I made little picture cards that went through each step of the appointment that I knew they would be doing today (counting teeth, sitting and laying in the chair, open mouth and say "AH!", etc) and a couple they thought they may try (like x-rays and "polishing" the teeth. Then last night I got out a little dental mirror I bought and some other things and had him lay on my bed with his head on a pillow on my lap. I had our bright top light directly over him and shining on his face, so he would know to expect it. He did great, so I was feeling a little better about how things may go.

So, we get to the dentist office today and Joshua tells me he doesn't want to go and see the duster. LOL I corrected him, and said he would probably like it. We walked in and he found the playroom and made himself at home. Elena also enjoyed this part of the experience. LOL After a while we were called back to the examination room. The hygenist talked to us for a bit and Joshua got into the chair. He was fine until she decided to try and lay it back, and it totally freaked him out. He told her he wanted it to sit up and so she fixed it and he immediately thanked her. That's one thing Joshua definitely has going for him - wonderful manners!

Anyway, eventually Dr. K. came in. Dr. K. is not a tiny man...he is a big guy, but a big teddy bear as my mother likes to say. He has always been relatively quiet when he speaks too, so he took Josh by surprise when he suddenly saw him in the doorway. He started fussing a bit and becoming difficult. Dr. K. had me pick Josh up while he layed the chair back, and then I put Josh back on it. Then he lifted the chair, which Josh again disliked. They also turned on the bright lights and when they did, Dr. K. covered Josh's eyes, which was a tremendous help!

They got Josh's teeth checked and there is NO DECAY!!! Woohoo! I was soooo relieved! He did have a spot on one tooth that looked to me like a little hole, so I mentioned it. He has an enamel defect on that tooth, and there is nothing to do right now. He said he won't attempt a cleaning right now on Josh and that he would likely have to be pout under ansthesia to do so, which he does not recommend, so we will try that again next year I suppose.

Next was Elena. He had Silas hold her on his lap facing him, then lay her back so that her head was on Dr. K's lap. He still had to have someone hold her head still for him because she was fighting him so badly. He saw no decay or enamel defects. I showed him where I was seeing the problems and he told me that it was discoloration of the enamel and that was all. Whew! So no decay! Am I ever happy and relieved!

Elena does, however, have a flap of skin that goes from the lip to the palate and will likely need to be surgically removed at some point or her teeth will not properly grow together as they should. My mother was told something similar about my outh by my quack dentist, but mine was not severe, and I have had no trouble whatsoever...I barely have a gap at all between my teeth now. SO I guess time will tell...maybe it is something that will change in time? Anyone have experience with this?

He recommended that we only give water in the sippy cup and that anything else only be given during meals. This is typically all we do anyway, but I didn't tell him that. Mainly, my kids drink water, and maybe one day a week they will get a can of Sprite each. And at night they have been having milk while Jacob drinks his shake supplement. So, it seems like we are pretty much doing everything right. :)

Dr. K. did tell me that he is not an expert on autistic kids, but he knows it can be difficult to deal with them. He said to not worry about the toothpaste if he won't accept it (another of my concerns) and just worry about cleaning it with water if that is all he will take. He also said Josh has been blessed with nice spacing between his teeth, so that helps tremendously because the food is not getting trapped in between.

So, all in all, I couldn't have been happier with the way things went today. :)