Overcoming a Fear

Zach is a dare devil. He has no stranger anxiety (he loves EVERYONE). He isn't shy. But for some reason he has been terrified of the idea of the dentist. I'm not sure why -- he hadn't even been to the dentist...but I think maybe he thinks the dentist and the doctor are the same thing, and he has it in his mind that you get a shot every time you go to the doctor. Wonder why that is (poor kiddo)!

Regardless, I have been meaning to take Zach to the dentist for a while now. I think by the age of 3 everyone should go, and then you should go every 6 months for the rest of your life. It's just what you do. Dental hygiene is important! But Zach is 3 and a half and still hadn't been and I knew I needed to remedy that.

Part of the problem had been that I don't particularly like the dentist that Em and I go to, and certainly didn't want Zach to go there. I knew I needed a pediatric dentist for him since he's a bit of a scaredy cat, and I wanted one near our house (my dentist is in Newton -- like 45 minutes away, in traffic). I finally asked some of our neighbors and was referred to someone really really close -- like a mile from our house. Turns out that all the neighbor kids go to this particular dentist. I made an appointment for Z and we got right in the next week.



Mommy Bunny had her teeth checked out too
(she apparently has 6 teeth)



On the day we were going in I had already decided that it was going to be a special Zachary Day. Dentist, then to Mommy's Work, then to Daddy's Work. I didn't prep Z too much on the dentist (I read this was wise to do so they don't stress), and on our way into the building told him we were seeing the dentist now. He said he wanted to sit on my lap and I said okay. Well, we walked into the waiting room and it was like Kid Heaven. Toys, fish tanks, and Toy Story 3 playing on the flat screen tv (and they had movie theater seating in front). When Zach got called in by the hygenist, I went back with him, he climbed up in his chair, and then nearly ignored me. He had his stuffed animal friends and blankie for support, but really wasn't scared at all. They hygenist explained everything to him (this is Mr. Suction, this is Mr. Squirty); he got to wear cool Spiderman sunglasses, and picked out his own flavor of toothpaste (strawberry). The dentist and hygenist both commented on how good Zach was (multiple times, actually), and I was even able to take photos and send a couple of cell phone pics out since Z was relaxed and enjoying the experience. When he was all done (with an A+), they gave him a goody bag of stuff and even let him feed the fish. The kid had a blast and felt really special.

We went to Dunkin Donuts afterwards for a donut and strawberry milk (where we ran into his preschool teacher), then to my office to see my work friends and have lunch. He showed everyone his goody bag from the dentist, drew an anatomically correct drawing of one of my co-workers (that's a whole other story), gave everyone kisses, and then I took him to Kevin's office where he spent the rest of the afternoon while I went back to my office to finally do some work.

The best part of it all was when he asked if he could go BACK to the dentist!