We had W's 4th and final visit to the Dentist this morning. WOO HOO!!! Well, actually he goes back in a month for an adjustment and cleaning but that will seem like small potatoes compared to what this kid's been through!

I've been prepping him for a couple days for this visit where they would be working on the upper left two molars ( a filling and a sealant) and applying the tongue crib appliance to the roof of his mouth. He's always been fascinated by the permanent retainer I have behind my bottom front teeth so I tried to hype up the excitement that he gets to have one of his very own! And his is even more special because his is on the TOP of his mouth.

He fell nicely into my trap and after the initial reaction of "No, I don't want to go to the Dentist again because it might hurt," he was excited to get his own "retainer." "I'm going to be brave mom, even though I might cry."

We arrived to a nice surprise when we got to the office and found that the new wing they've been adding on to the building was complete and we got to experience a whole new, larger, more professional looking office. Thankfully, the toys were still the same and the staff was as sweet as always so he wasn't thrown off by going to a "new dentist" again.

He did as great as always and greeted us afterwards with the same loopy grin he always does. He wanted to show us his tongue crib right away and asked to see my retainer again so we could compare. It's not as noticeable as I feared but it's certainly visible when he talks, laughs, etc.

He's had a little rougher time adjusting to having a large metal football in his mouth and complained a little during lunch that he was having trouble eating. He seems satisfied by our encouragements that it will just take some time to get used to though and I think he thought it was fun and special that I cut up his sandwich for him so he could eat it.

I caught him after lunch trying to take it out and asking when he could take it out and why he couldn't take it out now. I told him when it starts getting warm outside again after winter is when he'll be able to take it off.

His biggest disappointment so far is that he can't make tooting noises with his mouth as easily as he used to. Ah, the mind of a four year old.

I've been inspired by my friend and started playing around on picasa today. (As if I needed something else to suck away my time!) Here's a sample of what I came up with...

Today was the big day. And he was such a champ! They worked on his upper right two molars, took impressions for the tongue crib that will be inserted in December, and pulled his front top two teeth.

I was so nervous about today's visit but once again I was amazed at how smoothly it all went. It's not even as noticeable as I thought it would be that he is missing his front two teeth. So far he hasn't complained of any pain so hopefully that will be the case even after the novocaine wears off.

Our second visit at the Dentist went smoothly. I was a little concerned last night because when I told W we were going to the Dentist today he said, "But he might use a screwdriver again and that hurts a little bit." But he didn't resist going today so I was relieved.

They worked on the bottom right two molars today filling cavities and applying sealants. Everything was pretty straight forward although I thought they were going to do the impressions for his tongue crib today and they didn't. So our next visit on November 11 will be a biggie: fillings and sealants on the upper left two molars, impressions made for the tongue crib and the front two teeth extracted.

We used our newly acquired Dave Ramsey skills at our last visit and asked if they would consider a discount for cash payment. To our surprise they offered a 7% discount if we paid the whole bill up front with a check. So although writing that check hurt a little we feel good about getting at least a little discount. Acquiring Dental Insurance is definitely on our to-do list!

W is such a champ. I was so proud of how he handled his first Dentist appointment yesterday. If you are visiting my blog for the first time in a while read this post below to catch up on what's been new in our lives.

Everything went REALLY well yesterday and we were amazed at how quick the appointment was. When we pulled into the dentist parking lot, W excitedly said, "We get to go to this dentist AGAIN?!" We've been to three dentists in the past two months and never the same one twice until now so I think he was surprised to be back at the same one we saw Wednesday!

We arrived 10 minutes early and they were waiting for us so W got to go right back all by himself. This office doesn't allow parents back in the exam room. At first this bothered me but I've come to realize just how smart they are in not allowing mama bear back there.

Less than 30 minutes later he walked out into the waiting room with a smile on his face and they said he was all done! They worked on the lower left quadrant this time, filling cavities on the two back molars. They said he did great, that one of the cavities was pretty deep so they'll need to keep an eye on it. They may eventually need to extract the tooth or put a crown on it but for now we're just going to try the filling and hope it holds.

He was pretty quiet for a while afterwards but never once complained of pain the rest of the day. I even got a personal phone call later that day from the Dentist himself who just wanted to check in on him and make sure he did ok after his first time having dental work done. It's such a relief to know we found such a great place for all this!

I asked W if he wants to come back in a few weeks (our next appointment will be Oct. 19) and he enthusiastically said, "YEAH!"