First dental appointment + 2.5 year check-up

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, Sabrina's school was closed. Perfect opportunity to get some appointments taken care of. So I had scheduled Sabrina's first dental appointment at a pediatric dentistry office up the road. My regular dentist said she wouldn't need to see a dentist until at least age 3 but then I started hearing about others taking in their toddlers once they turned 2 and suddenly I felt behind the curve!

Gene and I had been trying to prep her for this appointment by asking her to open her mouth, looking in there, etc. Well, all that prep went by the wayside as soon as it was time for the dental hygienist to do her thing. Let me set the scene: open area with 3 dental chairs and nothing separating them (you can look over and see your neighbor getting his/her teeth cleaned). The office is completely themed out with an under-the sea theme (including an real aquarium with "2 Nemos" as Sabrina noted).

Sabrina refused to sit in the dental chair. I even offered to scoot the parent chair close to her and hold her hand. Nope. Bribing with a balloon was no help, either. So the hygienist suggested an alternate method. Have Sabrina sit on my lap facing me, while the hygienist scooted her chair to face mine. We had Sabrina lean back so that her head was on the hygienist's lap. It worked really well, actually. Mind you, she still cried the whole time her teeth got the cleaning/polishing treatment with the bubble-gum flavored polish, but at least that means her mouth was open :) That part only took maybe 90 seconds. Then came the dentist, Dr. Davis. And we followed the same procedure for the examination.

Bottom line: her teeth look great, no cavities, and the teeth line up properly top jaw to bottom jaw.

That was all at 8am. Then at 10:30 am we drove over to her pediatrician's office for her 2.5 year check-up. No vaccines were needed this time (yeah!) and both her ear tubes are still in place. I brought up the biting issues and she offered some suggestions, but nothing I haven't read about or heard about. She said it may be a cry for attention and to make sure the teachers focus on the victim when it happens.

Stats:
30 pounds (70th percentile)
36 1/8 inches (65th percentile)