Mr. Thirsty Straw

Yesterday marked the beginning of a now life-long experience for Tegan - he had his first trip to the dentist! I'll admit that I was not only nervous about him freaking out and refusing to open his mouth but also that he would have a cavity (or more than one). He hasn't been complaining of any tooth pain but the kid is a juiceaholic and his favorite snacks are Florida's Natural brand fruit nuggets (like fruit snacks but not as squishy and made from like 90% real fruit and juice) and fruit bars (similar to fruit leather). Thankfully, though, neither one of my fears came to fruition! YAY!

The visit began by Tegan playing in the toy room while we waited for his appointment to begin. After a few minutes Heidi, the hygienist, came in and introduced herself to me and Tegan. Then she got right down on the floor to play with him and gain his trust. After a few minutes of talking and searching for the balls that go to a toy Heidi invited T back to the room and off we went.

I'm not going to lie, though, Tegan did not want to sit in the special chair despite seeing Mommy do it and with the bribe of watching Dora while in the chair but Heidi, the hygienist, was A-MAZING! She invited T over to her little work are to meet the dental tools including the water & air squirter, Mr. Thirsty Straw (the suction straw), and Mr. Zebra who wasn't working and then was switched to Mr. Tiger Tooth Cleaner (tooth polisher). He even got to hold and use Mr. Thirsty straw to drink up the water that Heidi squirted into a cup. It was too cute and Tegan was very excited to be allowed to touch the tools. Go figure, the kid figured out in a matter of seconds how to turn Mr. Thirsty Straw on and off. HA!
After "working" with Mr. Thirsty Straw Heidi invited T to hold Mr. Tiger. She explained that if T said "Spin Please" Mr. Tiger's mouth would spin and "eat" up the toothpaste (strawberry, just like at home but after a taste T decided it was better than ours). So after a few "gobbles" of the toothpaste Heidi asked T if she could help Mr. Tiger help her count T's teeth and, to my pleasant surprise, T thought that was a fun idea. So standing there (with one shoe on and one shoe off no less) Miss Heidi polished T's teeth. HA! It was definitely quite a sight. I wish I took some pics of that, but I was more focused on keeping T calm. After a few shor minutes we "learned" that Tegan has 20 beautiful, healthy & big teeth (yes, she commented that he has big teeth - he got that one from me. Hopefully he won't have big adult teeth, too, but I'm sure if he does he'll still be a beautifully handsome boy!)

After the cleaning T decided he wanted to sit in the dental chair so up he went and Miss Heidi let him go for a "ride" up and down and back and forth.


Then he wanted to watch Dora so on the headphones went and he was zoned-in before we knew it. A minute or two later and Dr. Jeff was in to say "hi" and take a look. T thought it was cool that Dr. Jeff had on Crocs just like he did, but Dr. Jeff's were army green and T's were/are red. Tegan even got to try on Dr. Jeff's fancy glasses (no pics of that one, it was a fast experience!).


Again Tegan opened wide and his teeth were counted and checked and confirmed Miss Heidi's observation that T has a mouth full of strong and healthy teeth. YAY TEGAN!!!


While Dr. Jeff was examining T's teeth Miss Heidi took some pictures with the office camera. As I was leaving she offered to email them to me and the following was in my in-box before I even got home!


If you're looking for a dentist in the Shakopee/Savage area I'd highly recommend Crossings Dental Care! The entire staff is SO friendly and I was beyond impressed with how positive they made Tegan's first visit!

Love to all and Happy Friday!
~jenn