Tuesday at the dentist

Sabina's back teeth (molars) are soft. The dentist told me that some kids are just born this way. She has had sealants put on them to try and protect them but on our last visit, she was found to have two cavities and a chipped tooth. Due to the fact that she was a bit nervous and weepy during her check up, the dentist recommended that she take a special medication to
relax her during the procedure. He also told me to not tell her that we were going to even have a procedure - just to show up and let her figure it out in the process. This didn't sit well with me at all. I was not about to lie to Sabi and the thought of the medication made me nervous.

Anyway, today was the big day. Sabi was quite nervous. She was given her "kool-aid" medicine drink right away. It was supposed to calm her down and relax her but it really didn't. About a half hour later, I had to help her walk to another room since she was wobbly to have her dental work done. Everything went downhill from there. Due to the fact that the dental table/chair was so skinny, Sabina kept sliding off. This resulted in her being restrained. Then her head was placed in a restraint of sorts as well. Sabi was freaking out but all she did was weep. Then the dentist came in to give her the novacaine shots. He was a bit rough with her and kept telling her things like "Do you want to be here all day" or "You are making this hard on yourself" or "I am going to have to do it all over again since you are being difficult." Oh, I forgot to mention that he was using a very gruff and harsh tone with her. He left the room to let the novacaine set but left with with a threat " I will be back in five minutes. Make sure that you calm down or we won't finish today." When he returned, more of this talk continued until he completely scared the crap out of Sabi and she didn't move for the rest of the procedure. At the end, that jerk turned to me and said "Mom, this ended up ok but next time, we might have to hospitalize her or up her meds for her safety and the safety of my staff. " He said this in front of Sabi too. Stupid Jerk!

Aside from his poor bedside manner, here are some major problems I am having with the dentist and his office.

1) Sabi was weepy but in no way was she aggressive or out of control. I don't think that the medicine that she was given helped her in any way at all.

2) I don't like how kids are not respected at this office. The language used is ridiculous. They speak in a babyish tone and don't even use the appropriate vocabulary for things.
cavities: sugar bugs
the covering for her mouth: tooth rain coat

3) Sabina was never included in the discussion of what would be happening to her. This is the most important thing. Sabina has always been a worry wart about things that are unfamiliar to her. What helps her is to speak directly to her about it in an honest and truthful way.

When we got home, Sabina was still high on the medicine she was given at the office. It stayed in her system for a good 2 hours or so. It was truly scary to watch my child possessed by this drug. I couldn't understand her speech, she couldn't walk straight because she had lost control over her muscles and she kept trying to fight me about trying to get up to walk around. I was finally able to get the girl to sleep. When she woke up my baby was back.

With Sabi's teeth the way they are, I think that she will always be in need of going to the dentist and having special things done every now and then. I can't change that. I can change her dentist though. I will need to get on that right away!