I don't know if all mothers stress out about the dentist or if it is just me but to me there is not much worse then opening up the planner and seeing a dentist apt. staring back at you. I do not know if it is because I have such horrible teeth or if it is the hundreds of dollars I have already shelled out for their teeth, or the way a hygienist can make you feel like a shitty mother but once I know it is apt. time I cringe.
Today was the dreaded day for the boys. Although they were extremely pleased with the idea that they got to miss school I was dreading the guilt trip that usually occurs with these lovely cleanings. Unless you have a child who has had several cavities in the past you might not know what I am talking about but it goes a little something like this..." Kelly we need to discuss your children's brushing habits, both Cooper and Owen have 2/3 cavities." I respond with something along the lines of my children brush every morning after breakfast and every night before bed". Here is where the slap in the face comes. "Well perhaps you should be brushing them for them, and flossing their teeth for them too, the kids told me they do not floss with each brushing. We should also consider nutrition, you know junk food and food high in sugar is very bad for their teeth." I respond with something like "uhhh yeah I guess I could start helping them a little more with the brushing I just kinda thought that they were beyond that stage, and the flossing... you got me I do not floss their teeth twice a day because I find it hard to get my hands in their mouth but I did buy them those little flossers that they could do on their own, as far as diet you might not have noticed but my kids are pretty fit which I attribute to the healthy diet I provide for them" Which gets a response of "fruit snacks, do your kids get fruit snacks, raisins are not good either, candy, gum, anything chewy they should stay far away from, you know even crackers and bread are bad once broken down they turn into sugar which could stick to the teeth etc." Now at this point in time I am usually mad enough to add a little sarcasm and annoyance to my response that usually sounds something like this... "crackers and bread? are you serious? It is now to the point where you say I should not feed my children crackers and bread? I am kinda thinking I am not into starving my kids to death so I am not going to worry about those sorts of things. As far as the other things go, like I said before I feed my children very healthy but they are children and occasionally I will let them have these sort of treats and quite frankly I do not feel bad about it." Of course then there is always some back peddling that goes on at this point by the hygienist but honestly the damage is done by then anyways and she has successfully made me feel like a shitty mom.
I went through a stretch of about 2 yrs that every time they went they had cavities and not just 1 but 2 sometimes 3 at a time. Jackson is the only child who only has one filling in his mouth (well not for long sadly they found a cavity today) I tried it all different mouth washes, flossing, special mints and gum that would break down the sugar in their mouth etc. I refused to let them have fruit snacks unless they were given out at school as a birthday treat and only allowed special dental gum. Guess what the cavities kept coming. Until 6 months ago when Cooper, and Owen were both cavity free and Jackson had only one. That was the first time I had ever left the dentist office with my children having a smile on my face.
Due to the amount of money I had to shell out every 6 months for cavities, teeth shaving, and teeth pulling, (yeah um did I mention Coopers mouth is small so teeth have had to be shaved and even removed to make room for new ones) I have decided to reward my children every 6 months if they do not get a cavity. I told them they could purchase anything under 40 bucks from Meijer. I figure it gives them incentive to keep on on the flossing, rinsing etc and if they got to get a prize it was still a whole lot cheaper then the cost of filling a cavity. Last time this back fired on me though, I figured they would b-line it to the toy isle but instead Owen got side tracked by a stand that had candy on it and chose a bag of candy even despite multiple efforts to have him pick Lego's or something of that nature. Cooper shot past the toys so I was certain he was going for a video game, which I was okay with when I heard him say "I FINALLY GET A PET" I was a little panic stricken in that moment and apparently the look on my face indicated that I was just about to say no because he so politely said "mom you said we could have ANNNYTHING we wanted in Meijer that was not over 40 bucks... a fish is not over 40 bucks" Sigh he had me on this one and I am just grateful he did not want a hamster or bunny.
This cleaning went just as well as the last Jackson having one cavity and Owen having none. Cooper also had no cavities but this was what the hygienist said "no cavities but he did have some plaque sooo make sure he is using circle motion to brush, oh and by the way he is ready for orthodontics I will give you a referral upon checking out" Are you fucking kidding me? Way to kill that happy feeling I had for the split second before I heard the word orthodontics. UUUGGG At least this time I was not made to feel like a shitty mother. We will be going shopping for a prize for Owen and Cooper but there will be some much stricter rules about the prize not being edible or alive.
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