So last July, while brushing Sy's teeth, I noticed what looked like a cavity on one of his back molars. The next day I called our dentist who said to bring him right in. They wanted to know if I thought he would sit for them. I really didn't know the answer.
They were able to get x-rays; and, he let our dentist look in his mouth but when the needle with the Novocain pinched his cheek that was it. He wasn't going to have anymore of that. Sigh. So we paid for the exam and x-rays and off we went with a referral to a pediatric dentist.
I called that pediatric dentist and was told they would not allow me to go back with him. Since I had a terrible experience with a pediatric dentist (and now as an adult learned of a friend whose children's pediatric dentist turned out to be a pedophile) I was NOT letting him go back solo.
So I called Melissa. Who did you take T too? She gave me their number. They could take us the next day. So I drive my little person out there. It's way out on the north side and not located near any major artery. They are half way between IH 10 and 281 on Huebner. For most people this is not that bad but when you live 40 miles south of that location, it's a hike.
The office is rockin' awesome. You walk in, it has a play area, there is a cool tree house mural, they have a video game room with all the "cool" game consoles out today. They also have Pac Man and Centipede. Remember those you teens of the 80's? And this is just in the waiting room.
The bathroom has a big person potty and a itty bitty person potty - too cute. The exam area is decorated with murals, pin ball machines and ride on toys (like in front of the grocery store). Seriously, this is not a dentist office, this is the arcade my mom would have said I could go in because they have pretty paintings on the walls.
Anyway, they took more x-rays of Sy's teeth. They did it with kid-sized materials so they were able to find eight cavities. That's right, it's not a typo, eight cavities.
I do not know how they showed up. I guess he has my teeth. We brush am and pm and pre teeth, I used a wet wash cloth to clean his gums. My friend said she would wake up her little girl so she could brush before bed and I said I couldn't bring myself to do that so maybe he got them because of that. The dentist thought they were from too many gummy snacks. If they were, why did I have so many as a kid too?
The bill to fix them was a lot. They gave me a nice print out of exactly what was wrong with the eight teeth and what they would do to fix it. So I called numerous other dentists and determined that they were not far off on the cost. Dang it.
We had two fixed in January and I decided that since it had been a year and we still do not have insurance (that's another story), I was just plain getting these teeth fixed. So we went back for a cleaning and more x-rays. They said the cavities had grown a little and they were impressed at how well he was doing with brushing and flossing. Thank you very much.
They also let me know that if I could make some payment when he came in for the work, they would schedule even payments to be withdrawn from my account on a monthly basis to cover the rest. Interest free. Really? That would be awesome. It was a considerable amount of money and it would really help to break it up. - With the motor for the electric window, the ring, the airplane tickets, and life in general...
I went ahead and booked him to come back and have them fixed. This time the bill was much more and it was going probably going to be two visits. First attempt, he threw up the sedative prescribed about 3 minutes after taking it. FAIL. We re-scheduled. They mailed me another prescription and then they had to cancel because the suction machine broke. FAIL. We were finally successful today.
I gave him the sedative at the Nana house and we wound up getting to the office almost 30 minutes early because I really didn't know how long it was going to take and you never know with traffic. So we got to play a little Pac Man and Centipede. Sy got a sword balloon - yes they have a person who provides balloon art and face paintings to your child while you are waiting to go back. See it's not a dentist office, it's an amusement park.
Anyway, we got called back. We got the fish room. How appropriate. The fish and the treasure chest have real gems in them (glued to the wall in the right places - very cool). Sy selected the SpongeBob blanket, the bubblegum smelling nose contraption, the red sunglasses, and Star Wars to listen to. It's a tough life.
As the parent, you get to sit in a fancy recliner with a massage function. You can also have a blanket, read one of the many magazines or play on the iPad. It's to keep you distracted from your child getting drilled into.
He had to let them know I had a terrible experience with a mean dentist when I was little and he was glad he didn't have to go to the other two dentists we had gone to visit because they weren't as nice as this office. Score.
It took about 40 minutes for all six cavities to be filled. The dentist said she wasn't going to crown the two bad ones because they did not go to the nerve. She said to watch them and if we had any issues to let her know ASAP.
Sy picked out his three toys, ate a banana (yes, they even provide bananas and apples as healthy snack options as you leave) at the check out desk while I paid a lump sum with the rest to come out of my account in three even payments.
We don't have to go back until cleaning time in November. They were able to knock it out today. He didn't mind the experience. And I got a lower bill than I was expecting. Really, all the way around, it's awesome.
The office is The Dentist for Kids. Dr. Bob and Dr. Elkins.
No comments:
Post a Comment