Every year, the kids are required by law to be examined by either the school dentist, or your own personal dentist. In years past, all the kids in one grade are driven down to the neighboring city to visit the official school-sanctioned dentist. This is simply a quick exam to determine if any work needs to be done, and if the child is suffering from any major problems that should be fixed right away. It's also a good way for the dentist to make some quick and easy bucks. :) We would always get a note sent home with Nicholas saying that he "needed" at least 500 Franks worth of work. He never had any cavities, or problem spots, this was just "urgent preventative" care. We did take his recommendation and get sealant put on his back molars, just in Utah where all four teeth, plus a thorough cleaning, cost less than what this guy wanted for one!
Two years ago, however, they made a change in the law. Now we just get vouchers in the mail that we can take to the dentist of our choice for the check-up. Guess enough people always went to their personal dentist anyway, it became kind of silly to keep an official school one on retainer. This year, I had four kids who needed to be seen, and our super nice dentist and his office staff took pity on me and scheduled them for all on the same day, one after the other. 🙂
I had Noah and Nick sit in the waiting room, while I went in with Sarah and Sophie. Sophie was feeling a bit nervous, so Sarah went first to show her that it didn't hurt at all. The dentist took one look at Sarah's teeth and asked if we had made an appointment with the orthodontist yet. I had called when he first told me to, way back in December, but the first opening they had wasn't until March. This is what I told him. Apparently, Sarah has too many teeth for her tiny mouth, but if they get started early, they can stretch out her jaw? Yeah, sounds painful to me, but she really hates her crooked teeth.
When it was Sophie's turn, I went to get Noah, to tell him it was almost his turn. But Nick decided he didn't want to be in the waiting room all alone, so there we were, 6 Charles crammed into the exam room, and one Dentist trying to work around us all. 🙂 He was super patient and showed the kids every tool he was using, and explained all the different things he was looking at. He has 3 young kids of his own, and it definitely shows!
He told me that Sophie had a very thick and long string attaching her lip to her upper gum, and that it was actually keeping her two front teeth from growing together. He recommended having her come in another time to get it removed. When I looked at her mouth, compared to the other kids, it was easy to see that hers really was pretty big and long in comparison, so I decided to get it done as soon as possible.
Nick totally won in the gene pool lottery and has naturally straight teeth. But he did need a bit of tartar removal, which the dentist took care of right then. And Noah was by now completely relaxed, having gotten to see beforehand everything that was going to happen to him, so he hopped right up on that chair, no problem! He also didn't need any work done. Hurray! Total time spent in the office, 35 minutes. Thanks for making it so painless, Dr. Kunz!