Saturday, March 27, 2010

A visit to the dentist

Harrison went to the dentist Thursday. It was a visit that I looked forward to about as much as having my eyelashes plucked out one by one. I hate taking my kids to the dentist almost as much as they hate going. I'm not terribly concerned about the slight discomfort they might feel while having some hygentist scrap the layers of plaque off their teeth. No, I am more concerned about the discomfort I feel when the hygentist looks at me and says "I see a bit of decay here on the XX molar" all the while smiling and most likely thinking to herself what a horrible mother I must be.

I wish I had the guts to act shocked and say "I don't believe it. We eat foods low in sugar and I make him brush his teeth after every meal and at night and in the morning and after snacks. And seriously we have stock in dental floss we use so much. I just can't believe that he would have a cavity." But in reality I know exactly why there is decay. It's from all the times he fell asleep without brushing his teeth. It's from the cotton candy and fruit punch he begs for at each baseball game. And the Skittles and Sourpatch Kids he got as a "treat" for being good. 

So instead when the comment is made, I sit and silently repeat to myself "I am a good mother" over and over. I mean in the whole scheme of things is a little decay such a horrible thing? And surely it doesn't make me a bad mother. Does it?

3 comments:

Sandy said...

Nope...you are not a bad mother!!!! Ariel brushes her teeth constantly and has a mouth full of fillings, root canals, pulled permanent for the root canals not workings, etc. etc. etc. And then I have Cody who NEVER brushes his teeth, even when told to do and has only had ONE cavity and they were able to fill it with no deadening!!!!

So NO you are not a bad mom ;o) You are great MOM!!!!

Unknown said...

How can you even say that you're a bad mother when you give your kid what what he wants? I think it's a parent's nature to just feel bad about themselves when their kid is having troubles. Of course, we want the best for them. So when my son was having tooth complaints and he told me he no longer can endure it, I immediately contacted our dentist in Murfreesboro (TN) to have his dental check-up. Good thing he just needed some sealants. But I know to myself that I never failed to remind him to take good care of his teeth. I hope by now, Harrison is doing great.

Anonymous said...

Kids are more prone to cavities and tooth decay than us adults so we must bring them to a dentist regularly for great oral care. My kids just recently had their teeth pulled by the Raleigh dentist. In our small town in Raleigh, dentistry is really important because we want to maintain our healthy smiles all the time.