Dear Addie,
It’s that time of year again where we try to follow through on an appointment made 6 months ago where somehow a 6-month younger version of myself felt so confident in my life scheduling skills that I thought “sure a random Thursday during a busy holiday season at 2:30 in the afternoon would be perfect dental appointment time for you!” Schedule it! Oye what was I thinking? I guess it’s safe to say fortune-telling will not be on my resume any time soon. Goodness me if I had that kind of clarity & organization, I’d be unstoppable! Just kidding, I’d probably still be a mess. I often wonder while I’m ever so confidently making these appointments if anyone else ever giggles to themselves a bit for things so far in advance? But all joking aside we all know when it comes to dentistry if we don’t play fortune teller, we’ll find ourselves riding the wave on a waiting list for a pop-up appointment – not the easiest in our special need’s world, or the next available appointment being sometime in 2023. Ok maybe that's a bit extreme, but seriously it can be 6 months plus! I guess it’s nice to see so many people caring about their teeth. But I digress.
This week we had your follow-up cleaning from what was your last exceptional experience at the dentist. Addie if I'm being honest I truly never thought we would figure out this whole dentist thing for you without serious interventions and truth be told we had some real worries about your teeth, but with some growth and finding the right people, it’s changed the whole game. Praise the Lord! Now as luck would have it the time I felt so confident about before was anything but achievable so I had to reschedule. Luckily with this amazing office, they were able to get us in only a few days later, but it was still weighing on me a bit if this experience was going to be like starting over full of anxiety for you or just old hat? Hoping for the best with this rescheduled date, we took a deep breath, and off we went.
When we arrived in the parking lot, you began to feverishly look around out the windows of the car, seemingly confused that this wasn’t school where you assumed you should be? Even with all my talking of going to the dentist leading up to this moment, I still just never really know how ready you are for what's about to happen. But from what I have been able to gather in my almost 11 years of raising someone with autism, you never forget experiences, good or bad. Luckily for us and the prep work done by this amazing office with multiple visits months ago, this experience was one for the good so you pushed your seatbelt button then proceeded to stim & jump your way into the waiting room.
Still following Covid protocols, temps were taken and you sat down next to me shockingly calm & quiet with your legs crossed and if it wasn’t for the headphones, you were seriously looking every ounce of years older than that of what you were and dare, I say – bored. The dental hygienist called you back and started by saying “Hi Addie – we’ve never met…” my heart sunk into my stomach a bit because it’s in these moments we never quite know how people will react to your mannerisms & behavior or how you will react to them for that matter. 6 months ago, I was told it would be the same hygienist so that you would feel comfortable and familiar and likewise for them with you! I guess it’s safe to say fortune-telling a hygienist schedule was either not their forte either or I messed all this up changing your appointment? No turning back now, let’s do this.
You bounced your way over to the little pre-tooth brushing area or the “Oh, brush my teeff!” spot as you call it. I assisted you in brushing your teeth and then the hygienist gave you a small paper cup of water to rinse and spit. Keeping things interesting you decided to chug and swallow the small cup of water followed by a long, loud sigh like it was the most refreshing drink you’ve ever had, then proceeded to lean in like you were going to drink from the faucet. Dear anyone watching this – we use cups at home, I swear. After mastering step one of this appointment it was time to head over to the private room for the rest of your cleaning, but of course not before being distracted by the office phone on the wall – Addie they have a receptionist, they don’t need your help sweet girl.
Once we made it to the room, you once again sat there, legs crossed looking bored as ever.
It was at this point when the hygenist and I spent the next few minutes trying to get you to lay down in the chair to begin the exam but you refused to put your head down and laid there with your chin to your chest as if that headrest was hot lava - not exactly a feasible position for looking at one’s teeth. With a quick regroup we decided sitting up was going to be our best way and she slowly started showing you the dental instruments. In no time at all, she was well on her way brushing your chompers and even flossing! Yes, flossing Addie! That scene in our house looks a bit like a WWF wrestling match, but there you were just letting the hygienist you only just met today floss like a boss.
Alright so this is all going shockingly well, but the dentist was coming in next and as luck would have it (insert heavy sarcasm) our normal dentist (we’ve only seen her twice, but consistency is the key, right?!) was out today and had a different dentist filling in. Nope didn’t see this coming 6 months ago, but we are in the home stretch now, so I may have said a prayer to just keep it together at this point. He walked in and sat down in front of you trying to engage in some small talk about looking in your mouth. He repositioned the light to get a better look and before I knew it, he had that tiny little mirror in your mouth inspecting your pearly whites.
To this day I will never understand how our rock chomping, starburst chewy candy-loving child who didn’t use a toothbrush until almost 5 years old still has no cavities – but I’ll take it! That’s right baby girl, cavity-free once again. Whoohoo!
Addie even with a series of changes against us, you still managed to rock your dentist appointment this week. I'm so proud of you and seriously the whole staff at The Little Tooth Co. is out of this world when it comes to patience and kindness.
Oh, and I once again confidently played the fortune teller card and we’re scheduled for next June 😉 stay tuned for that.
Great job Ad.
Love,
Mom
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