Success at the Dentist

On Saturday, we took Natalie to see the dentist and we are so super proud of how well she did!

The dentist can be a scary experience, with a stranger putting long, metal objects inside your mouth. To prepare her, we read books and talked about the dentist. We also poked and scratched at her teeth with toothpicks and q-tips (and a mirror so she could see what was happening). She also had the chance to "be the dentist" by putting toothpicks in our teeth (which was kinda scary since she's not super coordinated) but in the end, it all paid off. See how well she did below:

Natalie seated in the dentist chair with her mouth wide open and ready for the inspection and cleaning!


Natalie being super brave as the dentist and dental assistant started poking around in her mouth. He counted all her teeth (10 on top and 10 on the bottom which is the expected number).


She even allowed "Mr. Thirsty" (the saliva sucker) in her mouth.

She's so little, she had a special "booster" seat she had to sit / lie on. Overall, the appointment took about 15 minutes.

Here the dentist is scraping at her teeth with the metal hook. He was really excellent and told her exactly what he was doing and showing her every tool before using it. He also flossed all her teeth and suggested we help her floss every day as well.

Here he is polishing her teeth with strawberry flavoured toothpaste and the electronic polishing tool. She let him polish every tooth without complaint and was proud she could open her mouth for such a long time.

After the polishing, Natalie sat up and rinsed her mouth at the dentist sink.

She's very good at spitting out her toothpaste now (instead of swallowing it), even at home.

She also helped to press the button and clean the sink after the appointment, and received TWO stickers from the dentist for a job well done. All in all, the visit was a big success!