Terrific Tooth Visit

Aka trip to the dentist. 

The dentist is one of Teddy's fears. There's a handful of things that absolutely terrify Teddy, most of which defy any logical explanation to our minds (arcades, high lifts, and electric wheelchairs to name a few). Then there's a few things that make absolute sense (the ER and dentist's office). 

I stopped taking Teddy to the dentist when he grew so large  that I could no longer physically restrain him and body hug him with my arms and legs to hold him in place for the quick exams. Any x-rays or dental work has to be under sedation, as we learned when he chipped his 2 front teeth the other year. Not the easy in office sedation because he simply rips off that laughing gas before it even starts. The full in-the-hospital, give him a shot of ketamine to even get him back to the room to get general anesthesia kind of sedation.

So, needless to say, trips to the dentist are a bit stressful. We switched to an office that specializes in kids with sensory issues and other challenges a couple years ago when we needed the sedation dentistry, and he's been making progress slowly but surely. 

His last dental visit was his best yet! He actually sat in the chair on his own (rather than being lifted into the chair), stayed in the room the entire time and did phenomenal for him. While Dave could tell he was agitated the entire time, this was such tremendous progress for him. 

Apparently it's a big problem if any more teeth fall out now.

It was also really neat for me to hear the report from Dave on the dentist visit. While you might not think of a good dentist visit as a point of pride, the excitement and pride in Dave's voice was palpable. It's pretty darn heartwarming to see that form of love for a child.

Next up - trying to make some progress with the eye doctor. While the examination chair itself looks intimidating with all the equipment, that's never once been used on Teddy. Nor has he had any of the puffs of air, dilation or anything that touches his eye. So I'd classify this as one of those inexplicable fears. But our eye doctor's office is great with Teddy, especially his actual doctor. 

So when I called to ask to move AJ's contact lens appointment to allow Teddy's therapist to accompany us and video him to create his own social story to practice, they were super understanding. We're all set to see how it goes with his therapist along, which will give her the opportunity to witness it in action. They're also going to set him up with a mini appointment with a technician to allow us to video him going back into the room and go through those initial steps for the social story. I'm super impressed with them, though not surprised based on our past experiences there (and the fact they've watched me physically restrain Teddy to keep him from running out of the building because he couldn't handle it anymore).