Keepin' up those pearly whites

The kiddos both went to the dentist this morning. Addison has been going every 6 months since she was a year, so if I'm calculating correctly, this is her 5th visit. Like the last couple of times, she did beautifully. She climbed right up into the chair and didn't even give a second thought to the fact that I was with Chase (who was having his checkup, simultaneously) a good majority of the time.

I looked over to find her sporting some shades and having some chapstick applied to her dry lips. She picked chocolate for her toothpaste flavor. Her very serious side always comes out when she's at appointments like this!

She told me the suction, or straw as they call it, was her least favorite part. You wouldn't have even known. The hygienist was great and talked to her the entire time, explaining everything she was doing. Addison seemed very interested. We left with a shiny new toothbrush, floss and a purple balloon. Addison told me "I really love going to the dentist". She's such a good girl!

Now, Chase on the other hand. He wasn't the happiest camper. Of course I expected this as I clearly remember Addison's ear-piercing screams the first couple of times she visited the dentist. Chase actually didn't do terribly, but definitely wasn't fond of having a stranger's hand in his mouth. After a cleaning and fluoride treatment, he turned to Grandma to save him!

Making sure that crazy lady isn't planning to come near him again!

Both kids received great remarks on their teeth. It appears we are doing a good job taking care of them. Whew!

We floss Addison every night and need to start with Chase - an idea I am certain he will not like. We also need to make sure to pay special attention when flossing Addison's back teeth as they are pretty close together.

Chase's oral frenulum is considered "thick" but not too low and they don't think it will cause the teeth to gap. However, we do have to take special care when brushing his teeth to be sure we're getting under his gums. They showed me how to do this. If the frenulum doesn't cause a problem, they won't do anything about it. They wouldn't do anything at this point, anyway.

Oh, and they also said an adult should be brushing their teeth until they are TWELVE! Crazy to think about brushing my 6th graders teeth, but I'm not surprised this is what they recommend. And you better believe I'll follow that advice. No reason to set them up for unnecessary teeth problems! Hopefully they won't mind. We just won't tell their friends. :)

Glad to have that appointment over for the next few months and thankful Grandma was with me to help out!