The Big Weiss family had our 6 month dental checkups yesterday. We schedule our appointments back to back, so we are normally in the dental office for nearly and hour and and a half! But, when we are finished, we are ALL finished... at least until the next visit rolls around.
Yesterday's visit had some added highlights. 1.) Our dental insurance had changed (again)- which I am told is better coverage and will benefit us through lower co-pays/deductible. 2.) Zeke had turned 3 and was scheduled for his first checkup.
The later turned out to be hilarious as Dr. Mary Jane asked, begged, then pleaded with him to open wide and say "Ahhh". Zeke, who too often resembles Spanky from The Little Rascals, tightened his lips together, turned down his eyebrows, and shook his head "no". She tried everything she could to get him to cooperate! She introduced him to all the equipment and explained (in age appropriate language) what she was going to do. She let him play with the spit sucker and even got Mr. Starfish involved, who is a stuffed starfish who happens to have a set of child sized teeth in his mouth! Zeke brushed Mr. Starfish's teeth, which he enjoyed, but when it came time to try again... NOPE.
Toward the end of the exam, we managed to get him to open barely wide enough for Dr. Mary Jane to slide the little mirror part way into his mouth. At that point she turned off her overhead light and said "Well, we're done!" She said this visit turned out to be more introductory and that next time he would probably do better because he would remember it as FUN. Dentist+ Zeke = Fun??? At that point he jumped out of the chair and went over to pick out a new toothbrush. She also allowed him time to peruse all through the prize bowl for a "good checkup". Of course, by this time he was a chatter box and wouldn't keep his mouth closed!!! His prize, by the way... a rubber worm.
The final results: NO CAVITIES FOR ANY OF US!!!
On my final note, a thumbs-up goes out to Dr. Mary Jane, who uses her dentistry for the Lord. She frequently serves on Foreign Missions trips to provide dental care for those in need. It's fascinating to hear how they have to sterilize the instruments in pressure cookers, etc. Last week, she volunteered to provide dental assistance to underprivileged families here in the metro. The collaborated effort involved other medical professionals from the area and they set up a makeshift unit in a local store parking lot. Way to go, Dr. MJ!
