First Visit to the Dentist

This one comes a little out of order, because I almost forgot about it! Gavin had his first visit to the dentist, Dr. Lee, on October 7. Of course, he screamed the entire time Dr. Lee was trying to look in his mouth, but overall, it was a good first visit. Gavin's gums and teeth are healthy and he said we should continue brushing like we are doing, but we can begin using kid's toothpaste instead of just water. We have been using toothpaste since then and Gavin continues to do pretty well with teeth brushing. Dr. Lee was very nice and made me feel very comfortable. He said Gavin is a little late with his teeth because they generally like to see eight teeth by the time they are his age and he still only had four. He said that if Gavin didn't have more by the time he is 2 1/2, they would have to do surgery to extract the teeth! I was doing some major praying that his teeth would pop through before then, because the last thing a cleft child needs is another mouth surgery! (Fast forward: Another tooth popped through shortly thereafter and just this week at 21 months, he got two more! Phew!)

At the end of the visit, Dr. Lee gave Gavin a little blue teddy bear with an "I Heart My Dentist" shirt on along with some other goodies. We were then told that he was set for a year and the Dr. Lee would see him again at when he is 2 1/2. Let's hope some more teeth pop through before then!