Drama at the Dentist

Today we took Lindsey and Sam for their 3rd visit to the dentist.  The first 2 times, Lindsey did great, no problems.  Sam, on the other hand, has always had issues with the taking of his x rays.  On the first visit he bit the hygienist and on the second visit they weren't able to get any x rays on him at all. 

So this time I thought I'd try bribery.  I told them both that if they had a good visit with the dentist and did everything that was asked of them, we would go for ice cream afterwards (and, yes, I do see the irony of bribing children with a sugary treat if they're good at the dentist).

As so often happens with Lindsey and Sam, when one has a good day, the other will have a bad day.  Sam did fine.  It took a little bit of coaxing for them to get his x rays, but he did okay and allowed it. 

Lindsey, on the other hand, had a bad day.  Although she let them take pictures of her teeth and she even let the dentist exam her, no amount of coaxing or bribing could get her jaws unclenched for the cleaning. 

The bad news is the x rays and exam revealed a cavity so she has to go back for a filling.  We also discovered that her "six year" molars have already come in.  She got all her baby teeth early (she had 8 teeth when we got her in China at 9 months old), so true to form, it seems she's getting her permanent teeth early.

When we went to get ice cream for Sam afterwards and Lindsey didn't get any, she took it pretty hard.  Lots of screaming, crying and angst.  I told her that she would have a chance again for ice cream when she has to go back to the dentist to get a filling in 3 weeks.