dentist

Teeth and their cleanliness are so important to me. I floss every night and brush twice a day. I brush so hard to get my teeth clean that my dentist said to do it more lightly because my gum were eroding. I don't know what caused this obsession with my teeth, but I try to take very good care of them. I have had one cavity my whole life, which was a few years ago and I never want to go through that again, let alone anything other dental procedure that requires more pain! I guess that is my motivation.

A few weeks ago, Eli started to get staining on his two front teeth that was a faint gray color. I freaked out about it, while Chad said he hardly noticed. But off to the dentist we went to get it checked out.

As you can see, Eli loved sitting in the dentist chair.....sitting and laying and climbing.....

The dentist thought that it was caused by his liquid vitamins we give Eli that have iron in them. Apparently the iron can cause staining of the teeth. But when he inspected further, he told me he did think this was the case anymore. Then he tells me that all people have bacteria in their mouths. Some people's bacteria can actually stain their teeth and that is what he believed to be happening here.

Of course he noticed the horrified look on my face and reassured me that it comes off with a cleaning. However when they started to scrape his teeth, Eli flipped out and did not like that at all. So we go for our routine visit in April and then the dentist will do a full cleaning. He didn't want to traumatize Eli any more, which was nice.

I think the horror on my face came from my childhood pain rearing its ugly head. When I lost my baby teeth, my adult two front teeth came in orange!!! I lived with it for a little bit and that was just embarrassing for a kid because kids are mean to other kids that are different. I did not want this to happen to Eli. I remember trying not to smile so people wouldn't see the discoloration. I remember being so hypersensitive about it and very upset. Soon after, got bonding on the teeth and I have to get this semi-expensive, not covered by insurance procedure done every 3 years. Of course it wasn't until college and the infamous black lights that college brings that my friends and I realized that bonding does not glow like the rest of your teeth. Basically, in black light, I look like I am missing my two front teeth! Embarrassing.....but funny too. Also, I cannot whiten my teeth because bonding cannot be whitened. If I did whiten, I would have two yellow front teeth and the rest would be white. Again, embarrassing, but funny.

I think we as parents have childhood memories, good and bad, that influence how we parent our children. This is one of many instances for me. I know my sister doesn't make my nephew eat everything on his plate at dinner because our parents made us eat everything and that stuck with her as being a painful memory. On the bright side, I loved a saying my Dad had for when he was trying to convince us to sleep in the car during a long car ride. He would say that if we slept, we were taking a shortcut and when we woke up, we would be at our destination faster. Wouldn't you know it, it worked! And I am sure it gave my parents some sanity too! :) So we will be saying that to our children, for sure! :)

If you are a parent, what memories effect the way you parent? It is interesting to think about! :)