Kaylee's first trip to the dentist was this morning. I took her while Jamie (working from home) stayed with a napping Andy. I sat in the waiting room while she went back for her cleaning. After that the dentist came out and introduced himself (Dr. Jason Bongiovi) and said Kaylee was the model patient, very mature for just having turned 3 and he wished all his younger patients were as calm and cooperative. He said they were next going to see if she would let them do x-rays and then I could come back to take a look at those and ask any questions. She did great with the x-rays, too, and the dentist said her teeth look great. We could see the middle four top and bottom permanent teeth already in there, but it'll be at least 2-3 years before she loses any baby teeth.
We had already started using a flouride toothpaste, as she will gargle, rinse and spit with no problems and doesn't swallow the toothpaste. (It's pretty funny to watch her gargle, though I guess gargling in general is a funny thing to watch...) We're supposed to start helping her floss, too, to prevent cavities forming in between teeth. He said it's best to help them brush (i.e. do most of the brushing for them) up to age 8. EIGHT! And he said really up to age 13 would be ideal, as kids get sloppy about brushing, but most kids won't let you help after about age 8. :) So we'll see. So far we do the brushing for her, but let her give it a shot before or after we're done if she's interested.
All in all it was a successful first visit to the dentist, and I'm very proud of her for being such a good patient, as well as going back for the entire appointment on her own! She was proud to show off her sticker, bouncy ball, weird stretchy toy and new toothbrush, and she was excited about getting new toothpaste and a little flosser, too. Ahh, the little things. She said she had fun at the dentist. Her next appointment is in November; let's hope she's still excited about it then!
