Visit to the Dentist

Yesterday, Evelyn went to the dentist for the first time. Over the past couple of weeks, we've talked to her about the upcoming appointment so it wouldn't catch her off guard. It's a good thing we did that - when we first told her about her checkup, she was very nervous. But when yesterday morning rolled around, she seemed to be looking forward to it.

Troy took her, so my report isn't first-hand. The pediatric clinic Evelyn went to was incredibly kid-friendly according to both Troy and (more importantly) Evelyn. Evelyn played with toys in the waiting room, the dental hygenist commented on how well Evelyn behaved and how brave she was, and the dentist was both thorough and gentle. When Evelyn came home, all she could talk about was how fun it was going to the dentist. That's good - we wanted her first time to be a positive experience.

The dentist made some suggestions for Evelyn's brushing and flossing routines . . . and then came the bad news: (1) The little sweetheart has a cavity in one of her lower molars. (2) She needs to stop sucking her thumb. Amazingly enough, Evelyn's thumb-sucking seems to have stopped immediately. I had a feeling this would happen because one of Evelyn's friends, Olivia, went through the exact same thing - a trip to the dentist ended thumb-sucking. This morning Evelyn proudly reported that she didn't suck her thumb at all last night - let's hope it keeps up! As for the cavity, we're not sure what to do. She is scheduled to have another checkup in July, and we're tempted to wait until after that appointment. Evelyn will probably freak out if her second visit to the dentist involves a shot and drilling in her mouth. We'll see.