Benj's first trip to the dentist

After much procrastination (mainly stemming from the certainty of disaster), I finally took Benjamin for his first dentist appointment. Benjamin has never been fond of "opening up" for foreign objects to be inserted into his mouth, excepting food of course. Even when he was a small baby, sprouting his first few teeth, he didn't like me to look in his mouth and certainly didn't want my finger feeling around in there! Fortunately he has allowed us to brush his teeth with minimal resistance, but protests when we brush the "top surface" (as opposed to the biting surface). This, coupled with his propensity to, um shall we say "exert his opinion," had convinced me that this first dentist appointment could be nothing else than a bonafide disaster. Fortunately, for all involved, I was wrong.

After a lengthy wait in the reception area we were ushered back to the row of dental chairs. It took a bit of convincing to get him to agree to sit on one. My nervousness mounted. "Here we go," I thought, "we are about one straw from a major meltdown." Next the hygenist began to adjust the chair. At this Benjamin's eyes widened, his body stiffened, and he sat bolt upright as the chair reclined behind him. I was finally able to convince him to lay back on it by telling him it was like a bed. Our next challenge was to get him to open his mouth. He lay there, perfectly still and straight with those little lips pinched together as tightly as he possibly could. I delicately reasoned with him, choosing my next tactic carefully, looking for signs of meltdown. To my relief he finally accepted my suggestion that we "show her how you brush your teeth." Apparently the opportunity to show off was too great of a temptation.

From that point on, Benjamin "took it" like a champ. He lay, still and quiet, allowing the hygenist to polish his teeth with her "special toothbrush" and obediently opened, closed, turned his head, and leaned back upon request. The dentist pronounced him cavity-free and he was allowed to get down. The hygenist took him over to a shelf where he was allowed to pick out one toy. He chose a small yellow car, which he carried around with him for about a week.