This kid just rocked his dental appointment.
Had to get a filling and everything.
The worst part about the visit was having to wait half an hour in the chair for the dentist to get to us.
Frankly, I had expected him to do awful.
We have practiced “going to the dentist” with previous checkups and varying results, but when we got him into the orthodontist a couple months ago, the x-rays (which were a minor miracle to obtain) showed a cavity…
…and that his mouth was too small for the teeth that needed to come in.
The orthodontist recommended that he have at least 2 and possibly 4 teeth extracted when all is said and done.
She also said that if Jonah was unable to sit through a filling and had to be sedated, it might be a good idea to do the extractions at the same time.
Just rip the bandaid. 😳
When we talked to the dentist, she said that “No. In fact, it was NOT a good idea, and that it was overkill for what Jonah needs right now.”
She said that what x-rays show now, may not be indicative of what will be in the future. After all, he’s only 6.
She also said that the cavity could be taken care of without putting him under.
I explained to her about Jonah’s autism and how easily things could go pear-shaped for him and still her confidence never wavered.
“I use special techniques.” 😁
“Okay…” I thought….
This will be a neat trick.
So when we got to the dentists office, Jonah walked right up to the dentists chair, as easy as you please, sat right on down, and made himself comfortable.
That’s one part down.
The hygienist said they were going to put a temporary filling in, which wouldn’t require any anesthesia.
The dentist would have to do a little bit of drilling, but said she had a different technique if that didn’t go over well.
She also wanted to put some enamel on the rest of his molars.
“Welp.” I responded. “Whatever he’ll let you do.”
I was obviously doubtful.
“Oh we’re definitely going to do the filling.”
“Yup.” (ie: Nope)
“But we’ll see if he’ll let us do the enamel.”
“Sounds good.” (ie: We’re totally gonna have to reschedule this appointment.)
So we waited…
Jonah had his “sunglasses” on. They had a Netflix movie playing on a screen in the ceiling.
Wreck-it-Ralph 2.
Jonah liked that movie about a year or so ago but has since outgrown it.
Well, it would buy us a few minutes. If the dentist ever got here.
5 minutes passed.
10 minutes…
20 minutes…
30 minutes..
Now I seriously WAS considering rescheduling.
There is nothing harder or worse for Jonah than making him “wait” for “something.”
He doesn’t “wait” well…
…or passively.
Imagine having someone tell you they were going to “rip a bandaid off you,” and start counting to three, only to keep going past three and on to a hundred instead without ripping it.
Yeah…
The dentist showed up finally all ready to roll.
If Jonah was agitated, he didn’t show it.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
I had brought a brand new sensory toy with me still in its package. It was my last resort if things went south.
But to the dentist’s credit, she was very good with Jonah.
She explained things very thoroughly to him as she worked.
She told him to open his mouth wide as she inserted a tool that would sit inside his mouth to hold it open.
“Yeah…” I thought. “Here we go… in 3… 2… 1…”
I got the new sensory toy at the ready.
Nothing happened.
The dentist praised him as she calmly brought out the dentist drill that I MYSELF have grown to hate.
So the dentist told Jonah she had to “chase that darn sugar monster” with the drill and didn’t drill in any one place for very long.
She probably drilled for like 5 seconds at a time before needing to “find it” again.
“OH THERE IT IS!! It’s on your tooth again!! I’ll get it!!”
Within 5 minutes, she had drilled out the cavity and inserted the temporary filling.
Within 10 minutes she had placed enamel on all of Jonah’s molars.
And just like that, she was done.
Jonah never so much as made a peep.
I was floored.
Here we are, Jonah going through some of the worst anxiety he has ever had and straight rocking a filling at the dentist office??!!
Who is this kid??
As we left the dentist’s office, Jonah requested to go “play with the geese.”
So we are “playing with the geese” at a local park as a reward.
We have been here for (I KID YOU NOT) SIX HOURS.
We most likely won’t leave until either the sun goes down, or the geese fly away.
But, hey… You earned it kid.
Enjoy!