Going to the Dentist

This past Saturday Mark and I took Gracie to her first Dentist appointment. I made the appointment at the end of last month and so for the past few weeks we have been anticipating the big event! As we got ready we kept reminding Gracie of where we we're going and what a big girl she is now... although I really don't think she understood what we were talking about! We must have spent a little too much time jibber-jabbering with Gracie because as we left our house we realized we were going to be late... does this really surprise anyone? After a quick 22 minute ride up to Bellingham (that should have taken at least 35 minutes) we finally arrived. Gracie was eccsatic to ride the elevator up to the third floor where our dentist's office is and her excitement only intensified when she came face to face with a bunch of quarter machines filled with tiny toys (no sugary-sweet candy in these machines!) We waited in the lobby until it was our turn to see Dr. Dillard. She danced around, played with some toys and talked a bit with the receptionist (who told us about a 100 times how cute Gracie is - as if we don't already know this!:) Our time came and we took Gracie through a big door that lead us down a hallway to a tiny room where the nurse made small talk with us until the doc was ready. As she was preparing to leave the nurse asked us to place Gracie in the patient chair - we smiled, said "okay" and then waited for her to leave the room - Mark and I gave eachother the 'yeah right' look... then we quickly brainstormed a better way. I sat in the big green chair with Gracie on my lap - there was no way she was going to sit in that daunting chair unless she knew it was safe. Just minutes before Dr. Dillard entered the room we decided to place Gracie in the chair by herself so that we could get some photos - she sat there just fine while she brushed her stuffed animal's teeth... then in came Dr. Dillard. Dr. Dillard is from the middle east and has continued to live his culture while here in the U.S. - no problem there except for the unncertainty it put in our little girl... let me explain. There Gracie was, sitting all by herself in that gigantic chair (with all sorts of odd tools lying around) and in walks Dr. Dillard - a tall man with black eyes, a long black beard and a grey turbin on his head. Now, as if that's not alarming enough (for a two year old), what he proceeded to do definitely was... Dr. Dillard sat down with his face about a foot's length away from Gracie's and he grabbed two blue latex gloves (at this point Gracie's eyes caught mine and from the frightened look on her face I just knew that it would be seconds (if not miliseconds) before she started crying). I raced over to ensure her that everything was fine while Dr. Dillard proceeded to strech the gloves out within inches of her nose - cue the tears! Then the good old Doc proceeded to put them on his fingers just like they do in creepy movies, totally unintentional but scary nonetheless! Mark and I got Gracie to settle down a bit (tears were still flowing but the whailing had stopped) when - with his hands reaching for Gracie's mouth - Dr. Dillard says,"Can you open up please?" (as if Gracie's some veteran at going to the dentist!) Gracie began screaming and wouldn't stop... which made it a lot easier for the Dr. Dillard to examine her teeth since her mouth can get pretty wide when she's crying!) In the end Gracie did calm down and she left the dentist office with nothing but her beautiful smile and a few waves of goodbye. In the car I wondered what our dentist was thinking? My brother-in-law will graduate from dental school in May, so I thought I'd share this story - it's sort of a 'how-not-to'... Brian, if you're reading this - take notes!!:)I guess it went about as good as it could have, given the cicumstances - Although, knowing Gracie, I think she probably would have cried no matter what!:)

Gracie sitting in the dentist chair by herself.


Gracie giving the stuffed monster's teeth a good brushing.

Gracie showing Daddy her pearly white smile.