Open Up and Say Aaaahhh!

Going to the dentist has become a whole different experience since I was a kid.  First there is the waiting room:

Yep, that's one of three touch screen video games you can play while waiting for your torture cleaning.   

All my dentist had was a big fish tank and two issues of out-dated "Highlights" magazines.  After you were summoned, you were led down the yellow-brick-road to a big room full of 7 other kids getting their teeth fixed in one way or another.  I think my biggest problem with it all was the fear of the unknown.  Some days, they would just look in my mouth and give me a sticker.  Other days, I would leave with four less teeth than I walked in with.  If only I would have had my mommy back there with me holding my hand...

Okay, sorry about that tangent!  I clearly still have a few issues to be resolved...Back to how incredibly wonderful Shelby's first dental visit was.

Instead of watching the other kids get their teeth fixed, Shelby got to pick her favorite movie to watch OVERHEAD while the dentist herself cleaned her precious pearly whites. Dr. Linda Steele and her assistant Eva were like two little Fairy Godmothers there to make Shelby's first experience like a playdate with her friends.  She was such a big girl and cooperated the entire time.  I could not have been more proud of how brave she was compared to the 'fraidy cat I used to be! 

There wasn't one unknown factor in this office.  They let Shelby play with all the equipment before putting it in her mouth.  She loved the water-shooting thingy and even played with the sonicare toothbrush so much it ran out of juice.  

So, thanks to changes in pediatric dentistry, it shouldn't take my girls twenty years to learn to love going to the dentist!