Caelyn's first dental experience

Today Caelyn had her first dentist appointment and I must say she did very well and I was so proud of her.

I think one of the hardest thing about being first time parents is figuring out when your child is ready for certain experiences. A lot of ppl (including my in laws) were telling me that caelyn is too little and she'll get scared going to the dentist. Going on my own personal traumatic childhood experience with the dentist I bought into all the reasonings and so kept on waiting despite the fact that the chip in her front tooth looked like it was wearing down. Ppl kept on saying don't worry if it's not hurting her, her tooth will fall out anyway since it's just baby tooth. But one day she came home from school and said she wanted to see a dentist! I had talked to her abt it before and I guess the teacher must've told them about it too.

I agonised over whether to bring her to a normal clinic, children's dentist specialist or somewhere in between. I initially booked an appointment at this dentist in compass point because Daddy had been there before and said the dentist was nice and friendly and their price was reasonable. But I've always felt uneasy there purely judging from it's drab exterior. Waiting room was uncomfortable and there are no toys for children to play with. This part might not be important for some ppl but for Caelyn she's usually very happy to go to the GP because of the toys there. Then I also noticed that the 1 Receptionist also doubled up as the dental assistant. I think this is probably common practice in Singapore right - cut costs etc. I prefer my own dentist at Kovan. Sure they charge more but I feel like I'm paying for better quality service and peace of mind. They use a huge DSLR camera to take photos of your teeth which they immediately upload onto the iMac computer. If u need x-rays done they also have staff and a separate room on site that does that. They also have oral hygienist that can handle children, albeit at a limited capacity.

So today's session we managed to get her teeth cleaned as well as patch the chipped tooth. So now she has a beautiful smile. She wasn't without hesitation thought. She got scared and intimidated and looked like she wanted to cry a couple of times, but I held her hand and she was fine.....a little whinging at times, but the oral hygienist was good at putting her at ease. She had a cavatiy in one of her back tooth and the oral hygienist wasn't confident enough to patch it up for her because she was still so little. So she referred us to a Paediatric Dentist.

After we got home, I called around looking  for a Paediatric Dentist. Their consultation alone is upwards of $80....and over $100 for a filling so I knew it wasn't gonna be cheap. But after looking around, I finally found a Dentist which has a dentist who is very experienced in dealing with children, they even have children friendly rooms, and a new technology that doesn't require painful drilling. Best of all consultation is about $35. So yay, will blog about that experience after Thursday.

So for today's one, the breakdown of the bill was, $20 for consultation, $40 for cleaning and polishing, and $80 for the filling (pretty hefty) and I also picked u this cool toothbrush for her.

So if you're considering taking your little one to the dentist for the first time, I think you know the best whether or not he or she is ready and prepping them at home will also help. But I really don't think you should wait till Primary school for the free dental clinic.

She only wore these initially, after that she didn't want to wear it.

GREAT TOOTHBRUSH, BRUSHES ON ALL SIDES

BEFORE

AFTER