The Boys' First Trip To The Dentist

Yes, I'm sure you're thinking, "They're five. They're just now going to the dentist?" The answer is yes.

I personally hate the dentist, which only happened after I popped out my grublets, and wound up with my teeth destroyed from all the fun stomach acid I yacked-up over the months of my pregnancies. Still, I probably should've taken the boys in before now. Oops.

So, Tuesday morning, they had their very first dentist appointment! I wasn't entirely sure how to prepare them for it, so I just made mention of "tooth-brushing machines" and "water vacuums". They actually grew excited just hearing about that, so I was relieved. The technicians preferred that Eric and I didn't go back there with the boys during their cleaning, which surprised me, but they did just fine. We finally got to go back when the dentist did their exam, and they looked so cute in their little sunglasses!

They were so excited to tell us about everything, running their mouths ninety-miles-a-minute. That's always fun when both of them are trying to talk. Geez. There was a lot of excited rambling about "Sponge-Bob toothpaste" and "special bubble-gum" and "picking a prize out of the basket". That's all I remember-- lots of enthusiastic noise.

So, the dentist told us that Gabe has skewed jaw alignment when he bites down. I could've told you that, just by the way the kid smiles (it's always cocked to one side). How long have I been telling people, "You can tell the boys apart by the way they smile"? Forever? This means he has to go to the orthodontist to get fitted for a retainer that will widen his jaw as he grows, so that they both fit into each other better. Anyway, Josh didn't have any real problems, but both of the boys got a little talking-to about thumb-sucking (thank you, Dr. Merrill!) Yep, five years old, and still sucking their thumbs sometimes. Ugh! We are thinking of putting dish soap on their thumbs as a deterent (which is better than what Eric originally suggested-- he wants to use that Apple Bitter stuff you get at the pet store to keep dogs from chewing on things). Yeah... I know.