At one point, we had her put under for a dentist visit so that they could fill a couple of cavities and coat all her teeth with a protective coating. This was the best option back then for sure. She hasn't had a cavity since! As she has grown and gone to the dentist twice a year , she has gotten better and better with the process. I have always encouraged the dentist to let her hold a mirror so that she can see what they are doing in her mouth. This has really helped. Taking the bite X-rays makes ME gag so you can picture what happens to Molly. Even this process is easy now for my almost 20 year old!
Yesterday we had Molly's dentist appointment and I left feeling SO grateful that life has taken the edge off of my daughter. She is such a joy to be around. She practically runs back to the cleaning area and plops herself down on the table. Jack had his last appointment with this pediatric dentist group a year ago as his legs were WAY TOO LONG for the table and all the other kids in the office are tiny. He felt out of place. Molly doesn't care at all that all the other patients are little kids. Molly puts on the glasses and lies down. She opens her mouth, she closes her lips when directed for the liquid to get sucked out of her mouth, the stands perfectly still when they do the panoramic x-ray, she doesn't gag on the bite x-rays, and she almost sprints to the get the coin to retrieve her toy out of the machine when we go to reschedule the next appointment.
Jack always picked the bouncy ball that we would launch from the second story of the building down into the atrium after their appointments. It was the fun, bouncy reward. Lo and behold, Molly wanted a bouncy ball too this time. Next time remind me to be the one that tosses it down to her as this time she didn't have her brother to gently drop it. She heaved it and it went everywhere! I ducked down into a little crouch and covered my head. Luckily no windows were broken in the process.
I then took her to work and she left her little ball in the car.
That afternoon, the bus brought her home. She immediately ran around doing her "chores" then she came and looked at me expectantly. She stands and leans forward slightly and stares at me. She totally thinks that I can read her mind. I say "Molly, do you want something? Then you need to tell me on your talker". She ran back to her room, got her talker, and came and sat down beside me. She scanned a page on her talker and hits "Baseball". I think "Baseball?"....we all hate baseball (boring) and when Jack thought T-ball was boring at 3 years old, we readily agreed and have never had to sit on a sideline since :) Lacrosse baby! Anyway, I had NO idea what she was talking about. She then signs "help" and heads out the front door and goes and looks in the window of my locked car. AHA!! I knew exactly what she needed then. She wanted the bouncy ball from her dentist appt that morning. Love her. Even though she can't speak with her mouth, she is an excellent communicator!!
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