The Tale of the New Toothbrush

Boo and I got new toothbrushes today. We both had dentist appointments. This was Boo's second attempt at a dental appointment. The first didn't go so well for any party involved. I prepped her a few days before by checking out a good old Berenstain Bears book Visit the Dentist. I'm learning that it's best just to casually mention things to her that will be new, not to have an involved sit-down heart-to-heart discussion. It also helped that I had a dentist's appointment as well, so we'd be doing the same thing.

We walked back to the chair, and I pointed out the things that would be familiar to her. She didn't want to sit in the chair, so she sat in my lap and we went for a ride uuuuup and dooooown. The hygienist was young and cute and asked Boo her name and age. Boo clammed up and clamped down, and would have nothing to do with her, and reverted to a nine-month-old, almost climbing down my shirt (no kidding), hiding her face in my armpit, and saying nothing but the word, "mama." Did I mention she is FOUR?

So another hygienist, Becky, (who cleaned my teeth the last time) came in to try her hand with Boo. She said, "Hi, Boo! I'm Becky. Are you...two years old? Are you two or are you six?" Boo must have translated her questions into "I am now going to pull off your toenails, one by one. After that, I'm going to rip your ZeeZee into indistinguishable pieces and throw them into the garbage." IF LOOKS COULD KILL. I've never seen a scowl like that! Again with the clamped teeth and trying to climb inside of her mom. I was so embarrassed.

Becky wisely thought it might be better for Boo to watch me get my teeth cleaned first, and then try again later to take a look at her mouth. Good call. So, Boo sat in a chair and watched as I sat in the chair for my check up. She gave me encouraging thumbs-ups, smiles, and "good job, Mom!" as they scraped, polished and flossed my teeth, occasionally bouncing for joy in her seat at the sight. She seemed thrilled with the entire procedure, and especially the water pick (is that what it's called, Angie?).

The Dentist came in and checked my teeth, while Becky tried again with Boo. She got her to open her mouth and count her teeth, and look at them. Hallelujah! Apparently, cavaties in kids are pretty easy to spot - they are discolored and pretty noticable. So, she didn't see anything unusual, and said, "Do you want to come sit in the chair and we'll polish your teeth like mom?" She said, "No, I'll just sit and watch." Becky said, "That's okay. You don't have to. Next time you come, we can try again." She gave her a little gift bag with princess stickers, dental floss and a new toothbrush, then let her pick a toy from the treasure box.

I got my own little gift bag with a new toothbrush and some toothpaste and floss. When we got home and were eating lunch, the following conversation was overheard:

Boo: Yaks, did you go to the dentist today?
Yaks: No, I wen tuh bike stow wiff daddy.
Boo: I went to the dentist and got a new toothbrush, see? (Oh, she didn't say "mees"!)
Yaks: Yah.
Boo: Do you want to sit in the chair and get your teeth cleaned?
Yaks: NO!
Boo: That's okay. You don't have to. Next time you come, we can try again....But, you can't have my toothbrush, it's mine."

*You'll notice in this picture that she has a full-sized tube of toothpaste. She couldn't believe they forgot to give her a tube of toothpaste like her mom, so she put her own in there. Looks like she had a GREAT time, doesn't it?