Since Shannon shared about Conner's experience at the dentist I thought I would share about Lenny's. In the past two years Leoanrd and I have spent approx. $2,000 on Lenny's teeth. Last years trip to the dentist revealed 8-10 cavities, which took 4 trips to the dentist to fix. They gave him 'sleepy juice', then had him sit in the waiting room for 15-20 minutes for it to kick in and then took him back for the work. Like Shannnon, I did not go back there with him, so I have no idea exactly how things went. But they always said he did great and Lenny never once complained about having to go back. I think that is because the 'sleepy juice' actuallly made him sleep, so I do not think he remembered what happened.
This year his trip to the dentist again revealed 8-10 cavities! We were not very happy to have to be going through this again. We switched dentists due to insurance issues, so this year was a whole new experience. There was no 'sleepy juice' this time and I got to go back with him. The first visit back we tried the laughing gas, which seemed to relax him and help. He got through it fine, but hated that his lip was numb. He refused to go outside all afternoon because he did not want anyone to see his funny numb lip. (I had him smile in the mirror to show him that his lip was numb and I think it freaked him out a little that one half of his face did not smile) The second time back to get more work done was not as easy. He did not want the gas because he said it made him feel like it was all a dream and did not like that feeling. Lenny also did not want to be numb again. I tried to explain that being numb for a few hours was going to be ALOT less painful then having the work done with no shots. He finally agreed and again did really well. Having to go back the third time, however, he was not so cooperative. He compalined the whole way to the dentist and when he got in the chair he would not open his mouth. With lots of coaxing and hand holding he still would not open his mouth. He was being so uncooperative that the dentist finally just gave in and said he was not going to fight with Lenny and that he had other patients to get to and left the room. I did not want to come back again! So with some more coaxing and help from a dental hygentists and a promise of a trip to the 'cookie store' ( a woman in our ward has her own little bakery a few blocks from the dentist) Lenny finally agreed he would open his mouth for the dentist. We got the dentist back in there and Lenny did well for the little q-tip with numbing gel and okay with the first shot, but clamped up again when the dentist tried to give him another shot. I tried to stay calm. I did not want to start yelling at Lenny at the dentist's office, but I was starting to get really frustrated. There was no way I was walking out of the office with a kid with a partially numb lip and no fixed tooth. After convincing Lenny that the shot would not hurt because he was already pretty numb, he opened up and the dentist was able to finish his job. So, for now his teeth are fixed, but I am not looking forward to next years visit.
Last week I saw a commercial for this new 'Agent Blue' Listerine product that you use before you brush your teeth to help you know where to brush. The blue mouth wash sticks to the plaque to help you know where to concentrate you brushing. I let Lenny brush his teeth alone the first time and then tried the blue mouth wash to se how well he did. His teeth were still all blue. So I then brushed his teeth and flossed. Then we tried the mouth wash to see if we got all the plaque. His teeth still turned blue! They were not as bad, but still after him brushing, then me brushing, then flossing his teeth I thought they would be clean! I brushed his teeth one more time then had him use normal mouth wash and assumed that HAD to be good enough. I did not dare use the blue mouth wash again and have it tell me that after all that brushing, flossing and rinsing that his teeth still were not clean. As a comparision I gave Patrick the blue mouth wash and his teeth were not nearly as blue as Lenny's and after the first brushing the blue was pretty much all gone. I guess Lenny just has difficult teeth to keep clean.