Sadie's first visit to the Dentist

Waiting for our turn at the dentist

 Dr. Wendy has been suggesting that I take Sadie to the dentist since before her second birthday.  However, I didn't see the need, really.  I asked around about a good dentist and I worried about how it would work cleaning Sadie's teeth.  And I obsessed over brushing her teeth morning and night...but I never called anyone and scheduled an appointment.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I finally got up the courage and called Dr. Welch to schedule an appointment.  It was mostly a "get to know you" visit, as usually they don't start teeth cleaning until 3 years old.  ...And I think it was more about me than Sadie, honestly.

First of all, it wasn't very far from our house, which I loved.  I am still of this mindset that the East side of town is far away...it's not.  So, I showed up WAY early.  They were super nice, we had all our paperwork filled out ahead of time because they had sent it in the mail, and they copied our insurance cards.  That was it.

When we went back to the room, the girl asked a lot of questions and typed in some notes to the doctor about Sadie's disabilities, health conditions, and history.  So when the doctor came in, he was already in the know.

I loved Dr. Welch.  First of all, he barely said hi to me when he walked in the room...he went straight to Sadie and started telling her how pretty she is and how he can't wait to see her pretty princess teeth.  She LOVED every second of it.  He got right in her face, and she turned on that vision and gave him the biggest smile!  He kept touching her arm or squeezing her leg, and telling her how she was such a good little girl and she has such pretty teeth.

Sadie and Dr. Welch

We talked about what we do at home as far as brushing.  And we talked about her aspiration issue, as well as my concern about the teeth not coming all the way through the gums.  He wasn't concerned about any of it.  He said her bite is immature, but that's because she doesn't eat and chew like a typical kid.  And once he got in her mouth with his fingers and the little mirror he said that her teeth look fantastic and that we're doing a great job...which made me feel a lot better, because I don't always feel like we do a good job.

Dr. Welch said that he didn't see anything critical that warranted a cleaning today, so we scheduled her first cleaning for January, after she turns 3.  I asked him about sedating her and he said it probably wasn't necessary.  They'd clean with a grooved brush and no toothpaste and that they have ways of keeping her mouth open.  He also said that they would be really careful with the suction so as not to cause any liquid to be swallowed or possibly aspirated.  I think another reason why he wants to wait is in hopes that she'll be able to swallow better in 6 months when we go back.  But he was confident that it wouldn't be a big deal and he was glad to see such a pretty smile!

When it was all over, Sadie got a sticker...again, that was more for me than for her.  And we were on our way home.  It was a REALLY good experience, and I will definitely take my other children to Dr. Welch.  I also would recommend him to any parents of typical or special needs kids.

Sadie's cool Belle sticker she got for being so good