its a grind

in other medical news, four-year-old jude made his trip to the teeth doctor.  we tried a new dentist recommended on a local online mom community.  this dentist was a great experience for mom and jude.  harry got to miss out and stay with a sitter which may have added to mom's positive experience.

jude at the dentist

turns out new dentist's kid attends same preschool as jude.  he encouraged me to let jude run around and explore his offices before we began the visit. he wants it to be a positive experience.  dentist also does not fill cavities in children there, instead they go to a pediatric dentist. from what i hear that could be less positive experience.  did you know some dentists now use mini straight jacket type restraints on young patients?  so glad i never had this happen as a kid. yikes.

back to jude. his hygienist was helpful and friendly.  jude breezed through the cleaning. he was excited to pick the flouride flavor- strawberry- but less excited about actually holding oversized goopy trays in his mouth for a few minutes.

time to pick the flouride flavor

unfortunately we learned that jude is grinding his teeth. the dentist said its more than he likes to see for a 4 year old.  but because he is young there is not much they can do.  i admit i thought jude's teeth were still growing in. didn't realize some of the shape is him grinding them down.  i'll have to research this online more when i get a free minute.  oh wait, that doesn't happen very much.

afterward the dentist i got to take jude on our first trip to chuck e cheese.  not too crowded in the middle of a weekday.

chuck e cheese reward

after some pizza and way too long watching the show which i'm surprised to say was too soft to actually listen too, we played a few games before heading home with a clean smile.