Last fall I stared at my calendar with a sick feeling in my stomach and
a huge sense of dread. Eli had a dental appointment coming up. The
previous appointment had been awful, with Eli totally melting down. I
had decided to hold him down, which was the wrong thing to do. That
appointment ended with Eli stimming on the wall while the dental
hygienist (who is also the niece of one of my best friends) gave me a
counseling session as I cried. And Eli had not gotten an exam or
cleaning because you can't force a kid to hold their mouth open for you
if they really, really don't want to do it.
We had such great success with haircuts that I thought it might be possible to use the same procedure for dental exams - break them down into the smallest possible parts, make a visual checklist, and make them routine instead of new and different. But would the dental office be willing to do this?
We go to Bartlett Pediatric Dentistry in Atoka. So I called and explained to Jen what I was thinking. I told her, "I have no idea if y'all are willing to do this, or how you would charge me, or if it will even work. But it worked for his haircuts and I thought I would ask." Jen told me to come on in! I was blown away by this kindness and customer service!
Thus began...daily dental visits! Here is a picture of the visual checklist. I used pictures from Bartlett Pediatric Dentistry's Facebook page so that Eli would see the actual building, table, hygienist, etc. Then I covered up some of the steps with post-it notes. Over time, I uncovered and added these steps.
After a few months of going to the dentist every Monday through Wednesday afternoon, Eli finally got what we all considered to be his first exam and cleaning. They used his own toothbrush and worked fast! And now they let us come in for "maintenance visits" every few weeks so it will stay familiar. They only charged for the actual cleaning - the daily visits were free.
(A special shout-out to Dr. Jennifer, Dr. Tim, Ms. Jen, Ms. Kim, and Ms. Sabrina! We love you all and thank you for showing patience and kindness, all with big smiles!)
We had such great success with haircuts that I thought it might be possible to use the same procedure for dental exams - break them down into the smallest possible parts, make a visual checklist, and make them routine instead of new and different. But would the dental office be willing to do this?
We go to Bartlett Pediatric Dentistry in Atoka. So I called and explained to Jen what I was thinking. I told her, "I have no idea if y'all are willing to do this, or how you would charge me, or if it will even work. But it worked for his haircuts and I thought I would ask." Jen told me to come on in! I was blown away by this kindness and customer service!
Thus began...daily dental visits! Here is a picture of the visual checklist. I used pictures from Bartlett Pediatric Dentistry's Facebook page so that Eli would see the actual building, table, hygienist, etc. Then I covered up some of the steps with post-it notes. Over time, I uncovered and added these steps.
After a few months of going to the dentist every Monday through Wednesday afternoon, Eli finally got what we all considered to be his first exam and cleaning. They used his own toothbrush and worked fast! And now they let us come in for "maintenance visits" every few weeks so it will stay familiar. They only charged for the actual cleaning - the daily visits were free.
(A special shout-out to Dr. Jennifer, Dr. Tim, Ms. Jen, Ms. Kim, and Ms. Sabrina! We love you all and thank you for showing patience and kindness, all with big smiles!)
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