our yearly dental affair, and i was the one who could hardly wait for the appointment date to arrive. was dying to get aniq’s teeth polished and be assured that his teeth dropping off at the beginning of 5 years old is not TOO early. paranoid much?

the boy went through the motions – open mouth, spit, gargle, open mouth, spit, gargle, choose toy from box (although this ‘painstaking’ toy selection process took up more time from the doc than the entire teeth cleaning process). nothing much we can do to keep away stains other than regular visits to polish them, but on the upside, he has low chances of cavities. two of his bottom teeth have dropped (one he valiantly plucked out himself), and one permanent tooth has emerged from his gums. doc said something about his ‘dental age’ being more mature than his, er, ‘chronological age’, but it has nothing to do with nutrition. i always thought he was somehow… ‘old’-ish ever since he was a baby, but wait… this doesn’t mean he’ll reach puberty earlier too, i hope…?? O_O

but OH HOW i wish for his behaviour to be more mature than his chronological age….

it was the girl’s second time, and this time round we’d prepped her with books on visits to dentists, so she readily climbed up the seat and opened up her BIG BIG (in more ways than one) mouth.

checked the number of teeth and cleaned out some food stuck between gaps, coz while her brother’s teeth have always been gappy with plenty of space for new teeth to grow, hers are close together.

like so:

now, SMILE!

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exactly 2 years ago, aniq had a milestone moment with his first visit to the dentist, at 2yrs 2mths old, and auni was, well, -2mths (ie. unborn!):

uh oh, i sense a cliche coming now —> “how time flies!”

it’s become a yearly routine and this being his third visit, he knows the drill, so to speak – come in, play with toys, talk to the doctor, sit in the reclining chair, open mouth, scrape, spit, brush, choose a reward from the treasure box.

of course, it helps that he gets HEAPS of praises from the friendly doc for his good teeth and behaviour. sheesh.

his canines have this greenish stain which we can’t remove with a toothbrush despite our nightly attempts. apparently it’s common among kids (actually, even more common are blackish ones instead of what doc described as aniq’s more ‘textbook’ green), and simply genetically inherited. case in point: his cousin, adam, came in right after, and was found to have the exact same green stains on his teeth. sooo, it just HAS to come from my chlorophyll-rich side of the family tree. (by the way, adam would need braces some day, coz his mouth is so small, his teeth would be overcrowding. braces! so cute, right?)

but the stains were easily removed with the right tools (doc said to DIY with a toothpick next time). the ‘gappy’-ness of his teeth makes it hard for food to get stuck in between, so they’re generally easy to clean. remember when you aunties called him ‘madonniq’? turned out to be a good thing after all, heh.

pronounced as cavity-free, his good-as-new, post-polished teeth (i’m not kidding, they look awesome, sigh – dear aniq, please pleaseeee don’t ever mar them with smokes and coffee in the future) were photographed by the doc, and then it was auni’s turn.

okaaay, so ALL the doc managed with our wriggly worm of a girl was count her teeth (16) and made her promise to let mummy or daddy brush them every night (to which she nodded in a very ‘macam paham’ way), before she successfully made like a slippery eel and slid out of her daddy’s clutches on the reclining chair, and ran off to play in the wendy house at the waiting room.

better luck next year, doc.

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the last time we brought aniq to the kids dentist was about a year ago, and we were supposed to follow up six months later but kinda forgot about it, until an opportunity came up for a not-so-far-in-the-distance slot (you know how impossible it is to make dental appointments within the foreseeable future!), thanks to, erm, a ‘special arrangement’.

the boy was compliant as ever, answering the doc’s questions (or at least tries to, lol!), opening his mouth and spitting out according to instruction.

to cut the story short, his set of teeth is complete for now, at a full 20. all gappy and nicely spaced out, according to the doc. plaque and stains had inevitably set in despite our best efforts, so those were promptly scraped and polished off. thankfully, his candy intake is still *somewhat* under control, so no cavities for now.

and after the lil baby teeth were restored to their pearly white glory, the doc pronounced that we need only come back for another visit a year later.

his choice of toy from the toy chest this time? after careful deliberation via a thorough elimination process (car? no. spiderman? no. ball? no.), he chose a… bottle of bubbles. wahliao. pay dental fees so expensive, choose 30cent toy. wth.

and speaking of teeth, after a few days of swollen gums, her first tooth FINALLY erupted, like the tip of an iceberg. we only discovered it righhhht after the visit to the dentist. we’re still unable to actually view it, just stuck our finger in her mouth and felt the rough edge. sho cute.

and no, she’s still not biting me. or any part of my anatomy. i’ve scolded her a few times before, so i think she got the point.

how? nice or not, my teeth??

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the first thing i checked with the doc yesterday during my monthly check up was whether it’s STILL a girl.

the good news is: it still is. heh.

the bad news is: my low tummy is likely due to my laziness at exercising after the first baby, hah! weak muscles = flabby womb, you know. so, first-time mummies, let this be a lesson! but ugh, the thought of tummy crunches turns me off, so nevermind, another reason for me to stop at two. or i foresee my tummy hanging down to my knees the next time round. eew.

at this point, the scans of the baby aren’t too exciting coz the baby’s grown too large to be seen in full on the screen, so the doc could only show us parts of the blurry images which i, after two babies, still am very bad at deciphering what is what. ok, the head is easy enough, being round and all.

baby is now almost 1.4 kg, mummy has gained all of 7 kg, EDD stands at 17 april. well, give or take two weeks.

the doc offered me ventolin nebuliser for my phlegmy chest, and so, seeing that the clinic was TOTALLY empty that morning (a miracle, i tell ya!), i had my feet on the sofa and breathed in the damn thing for twenty minutes. i also wanted to know what was it about the nebuliser that kids absolutely hate, and the aftermath, as i find out, was a palpitating heart, shaky hands, and plain jittery-ness. the phlegm was still there, but i guess with all the other meds, i slept somewhat better at night.

aaaaanyway, the highlight of the day was aniq’s first trip to the dentist. i’d psyched him up by telling him over the past few days that we’re bringing him to a doctor who is going to brush his teeth, and we got him to practice opening his mouth when instructed, hehe. so by that day, he knew that he was going to the “entist” to “ush teef”.

the dentist discussed with us about his daily diet and brushing habits, showed us the proper way to brush his baby teeth, and warmed him up with a teeth model for him to brush…

then it was on to the dentist’s chair with daddy! he had his teeth counted (17 in all for now, including one erupted molar), brushed properly (without any biting or chewing, like he does with his own toothbrush at home), and some stains scraped off (due to the iron-rich spinach he eats). and all throughout, he simply kept his mouth opened compliantly like a good patient, and kept very still, allowing the dentist to do his thang. kinda like when he has his haircuts, actually. i think he’s a funny little boy like that, always taking in new experiences in a curious, adult way.

you know how dentists, like in movies, tend to give kids a lollipop at the end of their visit? i always thought it strange and disturbing that they do that, or it could be a conspiracy to keep the kids’ parents coming back to give them more business. but thankfully, no candies were in sight, only a toy as a reward. phew!

and as our reward to him, we brought him to the botanic garden nearby to run around and feed the fishies.

check out my teeth!

i must add that i myself like going to the dentist, never having a bad experience before – well, except that the pocket hurts most during visits. (why are dental checkups so expensive?!)

i remember my mum used to be very insistent in reminding us to brush our teeth every night since i was small, so i know dental hygiene is important, and i guess it’s subconsciously passed down to me now that i’m a mother myself. so yeah, call it the kiasu-mother-syndrome or whatever, but i think it’s an investment coz… do you know just how freaking expensive braces and extractions cost?? (i’ve never needed them, but i’ve heard!)

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