Kids say the darndest things

It could have been much worse and she was just being honest. Sometimes, I'm able to quickly realize what is about to come out of her mouth and I somehow change the subject. This time, she had an open field because I was laying in the dentist chair with my mouth wide open, unable to say a thing.

First, a little history. I have been going to the same Father/Son dentist office for about 10 years and I love them. Every person on the staff is so happy and pleasant. They actually remember things about me and will ask when I go in every 6 months. I trust them completely. So, it just made sense that when Leah needed a dentist I would take her to them. Apparently, Leah has weak enamel because she already has had 3 fillings and I promise you that her teeth are taken care of probably better than most. We brush twice a day, floss and rinse with fluoride. Her first filling (about a year ago) was scheduled with my trusted dentist (the son) but when we got there he was out sick. So, the father was going to be doing the filling that day. I was a little reluctant because I wasn't sure what his manner was like with small children. Leah had only seen the son before and I could tell he was good with kids. I didn't say anything because I had been to the father before and I trusted him also...as an adult. I should have trusted my instinct and asked them to reschedule her with the son but I didn't.

He assured me that since it was such a small, surface cavity it would be easier on her to just do it quickly without Novocaine. Yes, you read that right....WITHOUT Novocaine. Without ANYTHING! He assured me that the shot of Novocaine would be worse than the actual drilling. I shuddered at the thought of it but he's the doctor, right? She was crying and screaming, of course. I was fighting back tears because I didn't want to scare her more. He stopped halfway through, picked her up and said "If you don't stop crying, Mommy is going to leave the room. But if you stop crying, Mommy can stay." I grabbed her away from him and told her I wasn't going anywhere. I wanted to punch him. I wanted to take that drill and stick it up his ass. I wanted to take my poor, scared daughter and leave that place right then.....but I couldn't leave because he already had drilled and there was a hole in her tooth. I guess I could have immediately gone to another dentist to try and get an emergency appointment but let me assure you my mind was not working. My blood was boiling and I could hear every beat of my heart in my head. It was terrible, awful, scary, traumatic....you name it. I was still mentally shaken by it a week later. Actually, just thinking about it now gives me chills. That's how bad it was.

So, back to the reason for this post! There I was laying in the hygienist's chair having just had my teeth cleaned and the son came in to check everything out. Leah is content in the corner, coloring away (having just talked the hygienist's ear off) when she pipes up "You know why I don't come here anymore?"

"No, I don't" says the dentist

"You guys weren't very gentle. We had to find a dentist that would be more gentle for me." she says.

All I could do was laugh. I wasn't going to try to cover up what she said because it was the truth.

Needless to say, Leah now goes to a pediatric dentist where the tools are "magic wands", the fluoride treatment is "tooth sparkles" and they get tokens for the toy machine, a balloon and a cup of ice cream when they are done! They also use nitrous gas and Valium if needed for doing fillings.