Dentist

I think Judith may be finally over her fear of the dentist. At her initial appointment back in March, she kicked and screamed and ran away and hid, it was awful. I felt like I was betraying her. Then her first round of work a couple weeks later (extraction, root canal, and 2 teeth filled & capped) on her right side was really rough on me. Thankfully my friend came to help (Thanks Ashley, couldn't have done it without you!!!). Judith screamed and thrashed around, but the sedation helped. She freaked out really bad at one point, but then we realized that she was just mad about a finger-print spot on the sunglasses she was wearing. Once that was cleaned off she was fine. She watched Thomas while the work was being done, and overall it wasn't too bad. The paediatric dentist was good, he was really kind and quick and tried really hard to keep Judith calm and informed. Afterwards she picked out a toy especially for Gideon (seriously, she is so sweet), then my friend kept her happy on the drive home, and she went to sleep on the couch right after.

When she woke up she was happy, the drugs had worn off, and she said "Mommy, my tooth doesn't hurt anymore!" I almost cried (I had already cried quite a bit while she was asleep), I guess her rotten tooth had been causing her a lot of pain, and it felt better even though they yanked it out of her and it was bleeding all over! She recovered quickly, doing her salt rinses without a fuss, and she was very proud of her new "silver" (stainless steel capped) teeth, and loved to show off her "rotten" tooth to any and all visitors. She's a tough cookie.





The second dentist appointment to complete her extensive work was as good as expected. Judith was awesome. She was very brave and did everything the dentist asked, even under the sedation. He was very impressed. The only thing was afterwards, she wouldn't stop biting her tongue! I guess it felt weird since it was frozen, so she kept chewing it. So then it got bloody, and that really freaked her out. She wouldn't stop touching it and checking for blood, I guess the drugs made her all OCD. It took quite a while to get her to go to sleep once we got home, she was really whiny. But she finally slept for a few hours.

She loves her new teeth! She shows them off all the time. She got another root canal and 2 teeth filled & capped on her left side. She has 4 stainless steel ones in all now. My poor little 4 year-old has had 1 extraction, 2 root canals, and 4 teeth filled & capped. Sugar and juice will no longer be regulars in this house! And the kids are no longer allowed to graze all day. Hopefully that was the last time we ever go through this! It's so hard to see a child stoned out of their mind, but we definitely would not have been able to do it without the sedation.

My poor kids! I have never given them any kind of drug or antibiotic or anything, and now just in the last while we've had so much! Gideon had his hernia surgery Feb 24, which went really well (Dave has hernia surgery next week too!). He was put out for it, but when he came to he completely freaked out, I guess the pain medication they gave him didn't work, so they ended up giving him morphine. I hated seeing my baby boy all drugged up, it broke my heart! He was on Tylenol for a few days after, but honestly he bounced back well, and quickly. He's almost all healed up now.



Judith was given a drink that essentially made her "drunk". She was awake, but totally stoned out of her mind. It was a little bit funny, but mostly heartbreaking. It made her easier to handle during the procedure (although it did nothing for pain, she still had to get the regular freezing from the huge needle), and it also clouds her memory of it. We gave her one dose of Tylenol each time after we got home, but then she was fine so she didn't need any more.

Judith actually came up to me after her nap once the drugs wore off and said "I was so brave this time, because now I like the dentist. I'm not afraid anymore!" So, I guess facing her fears was a good thing after all (I finally figured out that she got her crazy fear of the dentist from Finding Nemo!). She experienced the worst that dental work has to offer a child, and lived to tell.

Both of the kids recovered remarkably well from their "traumatic" events. So, hopefully we can put all of this behind us. Now if only I could go and sleep for a week... then maybe I could recover!