Tuesday, March 4, 2008

First Dentist Visit

February was the month of sweets, the month of love, and the month when the boys went to the dentist to atone for their love of sweets (notably homemade cookies and chocolate chips).

This was Hesperos' first visit. The dentist checked out his chompers, doing a quick count by sweeping his gloved finger through the drool-slaked mouth. (The dentist only had to ask to see the bite-shaped imprint on Mommy's shoulder to know how many teeth Hesperos had, without ever looking inside.) After being given a clean bill of toothy health and a new Crayola toothbrush, the doctor let Hesperos go, resulting in him making a dash out the door and a shaky diaper-bottomed hustle to the box of chewy rubber duckies around the corner. I don't know if a rubber duck was included in our baby dentist visit, but I think it's something the dental office staff and insurance company can figure out without my helpful suggestions.

This was Helios' second visit, and came complete with his first cleaning. Initially distrustful of the hygienist, Helios was wooed by her grandmotherly charm, winning smile, and her invitation to let him ride up and down in her "space chair." That's right, folks -- no matter what the age, boys love toys.

However, toy love lasted only until the hygienist wanted to put the cleaning tool into Helios' mouth. He protested mightily and with much suspicion (just wait until Helios visits the proctologist for the first time...I wonder if the doc will have a cool chair?). But, the hygienist, with that same comforting voice (she managed to make Helios feel like a big boy while telling us that he was one of the easiest children she's worked with), invited Helios to choose his flavor of tooth polish. "Mint, orange, chocolate, strawberry banana, latte, fruit punch..." she rattled off, but Helios had stopped listening. "CHOC-O-LATE!" he exclaimed. Big surprise there. As she polished his teeth with chocolate fluoride paste, Helios would occasionally come up for air with Mommy-like insights and interjections. "Mommy, why don't we have chocolate toothpaste at home?" and "At home I have to brush my teeth after chocolate but at the dentist office I brush my teeth with chocolate. Can I brush my teeth with chocolate at home?" And then, my favorite, "I want chocolate teeth all the time!"

Of course he does.

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