Avery's First Cavity

Feb 14, 2012 - When I took the kids for dental appointments in December, we found out that poor little Avery had a cavity!  It was really small, but we wanted to be sure and get it fixed before it got bigger.  They had some cancellations at the office and called us to come in on Valentine's day.  Not the most fun Valentine presents, but Avery was a good sport.  I let her take her new little kitty that she got in her Valentine basket in with her to the office and that helped.  Luckily, they were able to fill it quickly and without a shot so it was not too traumatic!  Avery did great.  At least for the hard part.  She was awesome while they were drilling her teeth.  But, then she got tired of it and was crying for Mommy and wanted out of there and it was a little rough getting it filled, which is the easy part.  They had to put a thing in her mouth to keep it open and she did NOT like that.  Luckily, we know a GREAT dentist :)  and it all worked out OK and we are hoping for no more cavities!!! 

Showing off her new dental work....  It is way on the back in one of her molars, so you can't see it, but that is what she wanted to show me for the picture... 

She wasn't in the mood to smile...

Avery and her favorite dentist!  Daddy!!!  And they are still friends after all of that!

First Cavity

April 9, 2010 - Darren had been worried about one of Rylee's teeth for awhile, and when she visited the dentist office in March, they found a cavity. It was her dad's worst nightmare!!! He was a little worried about fixing it and drilling his own baby girl, but it went great. She was SOOOOO brave!!! How do you drill into this cute girl? Trust me....Her dad had a hard time! She wasn't even nervous. I was so proud of her!
Darren thought he could just zip into the cavity without numbing Ry or anything, but once he got in there, the cavity was bigger than he thought, so he ended up having to give her a shot and it was a pretty big job. I was worried about how Ry would do , but she was so great. She didn't cry at all except when the little tool they use to keep her mouth open slipped a little and pinched her lip. We were so proud of her!
Afterwards, Rylee got a cool prize - One of Darren's gloves blown up like a balloon with her name on it! She was perfectly happy with that! I love that she had to show me her cavity in every picture, too.
Rylee showing me her "gold tooth". Her filling isn't gold, or even silver. It is white. However, Darren has a gold crown and the kids love to look at it. So, she liked telling me she had a gold tooth like Daddy. And Daddy liked watching me freak that he would put gold in her mouth! It looks great! Hopefully, there will be no more cavities for Ry!!! I think we will be cutting down on the fruit snacks around here....

A Trip to the Dentist

Mar 25 - You would think with a Daddy for a dentist, these kids would get to the Dentist's office for a cleaning a little more often, but for some reason, I tend to forget that we need to get in. (Don't even ask me how long its been since I had a cleaning....) I finally got both of the kids in for their appointment and they did great! This is Logan's 2nd trip, so he was a regular pro.
The first time he went in, it was more of just looking around in his mouth, but this time they were able to do some more cleaning and sealants. Yeah!!!
He is still a member of the No Cavity Club! Way to go Logan!!!
This was Rylee's first trip! She did great and wasn't scared or nervous at all. She doesn't always let us brush her teeth very easily, so I didn't know how it would go, but she was fine. I guess it helps when you visit the office frequently and know the hygienist and dentist pretty well... I was amazed how well she did! She let Val do a cleaning and sealants on her, too! The bad news is she did have a small cavity, so we will be returning soon for daddy to do some work!
She was SO happy about her toothbrush and toothpaste! What a BIG girl!!!

On a side note, this visit was the day the kids used the dishwasher door as a trampoline or their vault. Darren's staff couldn't stop laughing about it, which wasn't such a good thing since they were supposed to be in big trouble. The best part was I told the kids they had to go in and tell their dad what they did. Logan started crying and didn't want to tell, but Rylee walked right into Darren and said, "Dad, I broke the dishwasher" like it was no big deal. It is so funny to see their different personalities.

Newest Member of the No Cavity Club!

Logan finally went for his first official dental appointment on September 15 . You would think with a Dentist for a Dad we would have done this a little sooner, since he is 4 years old, but I guess I figured Darren looks at his teeth all the time, why would he need an appointment? He has sat in Darren's chair at the office a few times for Darren to check things out, but has never had a cleaning or official visit. He was a little nervous about going and kept asking "Am I going to get a shot?" I think he hears Darren talk about all his procedures and stuff a little too much because he was pretty concerned!
Here he is in the Hygenist's chair. He hopped right up there and did great! No problems at all! She said he was pretty funny and chatted away to her. At the end, she said that she was going to go and get Darren to look at him and Logan said "OK, you have 1 minute." And he meant it. After about a minute or two, he decided he was finished and just got down from the chair. Luckily they were pretty much done. At his next appointment, they will probably try x-rays.

Logan and his favorite dentist - Dad!!! Both he and Rylee LOVE to visit Darren's office and Rylee always wants Darren to take off his mask and his funny glasses - I guess she doesn't like how he looks with them on.

No Cavities for Logan!!! Yeah!!! I think he thought the best part of the whole thing was choosing his own new toothpaste and toothbrush. The hygenist was great and let Rylee choose one as well so she thought that was so special and can't wait for her turn at the Dentist!

Hip Hip Hooray!

As many of you know, Darren is ALMOST finished with dental school - It is a little hard to believe, but also very exciting for us! About a week ago, he had to take the Western Regional Boards, which is a test to be able to get his license so he can practice as a dentist. It is a pretty stressful deal because you have to find patients who meet certain criteria and then hope that they actually show up on the day of the test. There are a lot of little things that can go wrong that you don't have a lot of control over, besides all the usual stuff you have to worry about. For instance, one of Darren's patients was an illegal immigrant and I kept having this wierd fear that he would be deported the day before the exam. If your patient is a no show, you fail and to take it again, you have to go somewhere else since they only offer it in Vegas once a year and you have to take all your patients with you and pay for everything - It can get quite expensive! Darren is a really organized though and did a great job lining everything up and being prepared. He did have one small catastrophe - He left the morning of the test without a piece of equipment he needed. I had to drag the kids out of bed and rush it over to him at the school, but it all worked out OK. Darren feels pretty good about how everything went, so now we just have to wait 4 weeks for the results, but we are glad it is over! We are so proud of him and all the work he has done this last 4 years! We love you babe!
The kids waiting in the car in their PJs to give Darren his Cavitron

Darren looking cool in his special loupes right before boards!

All done! Yeah - We celebrated by going out to get Chinese food!