The Boy's First Dentist Appointment
After rescheduling it a time and nearly two, the boy has had his first dentist appointment. All turned out great except the "lecture" on paci's, which we knew was coming. For good reason. 
He had the x-rays taken, teeth cleaned and examined. He chose to sit up for the teeth cleaning as he wasn't so sure about lying done. 
The tech was awesome and said that was no big deal and not unusual for these little guy's. He did end up lying down for the dentist to examine.
Spencer's recap was that he did good, he didn't cry, and he said ahhh.
Now... what to do about the paci's!?!?!? We've totally known this day was coming. I totally want to do what is in his best interest, but I'm also fully aware how important they are to him. He has an extreme oral fixation. He also holds them in his hands (multiple paci's) and massages them, rotates them, etc... as part of his soothing routines. So, paci's need to go to "save his teeth" but I'd like to find something that can meet these needs.
So on the way to the dentist appointment Spencer decided that the "dentist appointment was closed". But they forged ahead and he was a champ!
He had the x-rays taken, teeth cleaned and examined. He chose to sit up for the teeth cleaning as he wasn't so sure about lying done. 
The tech was awesome and said that was no big deal and not unusual for these little guy's. He did end up lying down for the dentist to examine.
Spencer's recap was that he did good, he didn't cry, and he said ahhh.Now... what to do about the paci's!?!?!? We've totally known this day was coming. I totally want to do what is in his best interest, but I'm also fully aware how important they are to him. He has an extreme oral fixation. He also holds them in his hands (multiple paci's) and massages them, rotates them, etc... as part of his soothing routines. So, paci's need to go to "save his teeth" but I'd like to find something that can meet these needs.
Labels: The Boy
posted by Sonya at 10:26 AM
4 Comments:
Ok blogger ate my first one. Do you limit when Spencer has his pacis? Only at naptime etc or has to sit down to have them? Conlan loved his apcis as well and we started limiting where and when he could have them.
Second we picked an event time to get rid of it. We were going to Disney World and we told Conlan that Buzz Lightyear collects pacis for kids when it is time for them to give them up.For us he gave it up before then.
Maybe his birthday or a summer trip this coming summer? Our dentist was fine with kids having them until about age 4. Conlan was about 3.5 years old when he gave it up. Limiting is a great first step to eventuallly getting rid of them. Don't rush to much. I hope this helps some.
Kerry - We started limiting a bit a while back. It goes in spurts.
We've talked about giving/sending his paci's to other kids. He's fully on board to send his paci's away but his caveat is that he would like to go buy new one's.
Our dentist would like to see paci's gone around 2 and thumb gone around 4. But... it also really hinges on how each child is affected.
Ellie (5 ½) for instance is a thumb sucker, but generally only when she has her blankie (which we can limit) and generally only at night. She's also not really sucking hard. He’s not seeing much of any affect on her teeth and doesn’t feel like we need any intervention. Of course he’d like her to stop sucking her thumb. But unless we sit at her bedside all night long - or have some contraption installed in her mouth, it isn’t happening. And neither are necessary at this point.
Spencer is a serious paci connoisseur. He sucks that thing so hard - we can see it from the outside. At 2 1/2 his bite is already affected and his side teeth are pulling inward. Now... I don't have any expectations that avoiding/removing/limiting the paci will help us avoid the orthodontist. If he's unfortunate enough to have my teeth, orthodontics are in our future regardless.
"I" could really care less if he has his paci until he goes to college. Heck, he still has an occasional bottle at night... which may be ending as we recently found a "special" big boy cup for his room.
But unfortunately the intensity of which he is using his paci is really affecting his teeth/mouth. We'll take some time - try to limit some more - and maybe come up with an alternative.
It does really disturb me when my Dad pulls his crap - taking the paci out of Spencer's mouth and saying "you don't need that". It is amazing what the paci does for this boy and I don't want to yank that out from under him.
I sure get the comments.Conlan's dad used to comment about him using it, it got to the point where he would not let him use it on the weekends he had him and he gave it back because he couldnt stand the crying. Conlan had the blister lips from sucking so hard on his paci and actually bit through a few.
When he potty trained we used that in turn to gain some paci time. Paci's stayed with mom except for naps and bedtime he got new underwear. It worked, if he was extremely upset we would let him have them until it passed.
Spencer sounds like the sports fanactic like Conlan. We have an extra pair of sport sheets that arent using anymore if you want them. They are all different kinds of balls with baby blue background. His new bedroom theme is spiderman and star wars.
There are all kinds of therapeutic chew "toys" made for kids with the need for oral motor activity, but I broke M of his paci using a doll that had a paci.
As a transition to retiring the pacis, you might look at items that are made for big kids to chew on. A good source I've used is the website Therapy Shoppe. Look at their "oral motor fun" page. Also try an internet search using something like "oral motor toys."
Or make him a chewable necklace out of PVC-free tubing. I've had to do it all with M. I wish it would work now to get him to stop chewing and licking his mouth til it's raw, but none of those things have worked for that yet.
There are tons of things out there that will help meet Spencer's need to suck and chew, without damaging his teeth or thumbs. I hope you find something that makes everyone happy.
Mel
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