Dental trip gone bad

Today was the day for Luke to FINALLY go to the dentist to have two root canals. This appointment was scheduled five months ago, back in May, but I'm thankful he didn't complain of much pain this past summer. Yes, I know that many people are wondering the same thing I did when I first heard this was the dental plan, "Why root canals on baby teeth that will just eventually fall out in a few years?". Well, after asking other dentist friends of their opinion, they all agreed it was the thing to do. So, we've been talking about this appointment for the past five days with Luke just to prepare his mind for what was to happen at his next visit (drowsy, laughing gas, sleep, Mommy in room, etc).

After rising at the *&$#% crack of dawn, we arrived at the dental office. This is what happened:

1. Signed on the dotted line, promising to "pay in full."

2. Luke drank half and spit out half of the drowsy-cocktail that was full of sleepy medicine. Dentist is weary of it taking affect due to spitting.

3. Sat in the patient area for one hour waiting for placid, itchy, sleepy eyes to appear.

4. Once some placidity set in, an X-ray of each tooth was taken.

5. Dentist realized one molar was "too far gone" and not salvageable. NOTE: Make appointment for extraction.

6. Dentist realized the other molar wasn't quite deep enough for a root canal (thank goodness $$$$$$) but it would indeed need a filling. This was decided as the agenda for the morning - understandably.

7. With me in the corner watching ("no one puts baby in a corner"...sorry, I couldn't resist), the nurses arranged Luke comfortably in the chair and place the red nozzle over his nose to administer the laughing gas. Now, this is where he should have started falling into a deep sleep. Guess what? He never did. However, apparently he was loopy enough to allow the dentist to actually put the large needle in his mouth to numb the tooth area.

8. Once the needle was removed, my son became COMBATIVE! He started kicking, screaming, ripping equipment off, hitting nurses, scratching the dentist, yelling "MOMMY, GET ME OUT!". Even my gentle assurance and hand squeezing brought no comfort or ease. It only got worse since he was working his way to me. He was determined to get out of that chair! You see, he never went to sleep.....never. Did he feel the pain of the needle? I don't know. Scary, huh?

9. While Luke is curled up in my lap hyperventilating (just kidding), the dentist speaks to me about rescheduling and states precautions and side effects from the anesthesia since Luke is leaving with a numbed upper gum and cheek.

10. Dentist says he'll call later in the afternoon to check up on Luke's recovery. That sentence made me laugh out loud as I typed. Dentist also tells me that Luke will probably take a nap due to the drowsy-cocktail.

10. I reschedule and am told the next available appointment is MARCH 2010! The receptionist assures me there will be many cancellations over the holidays (yeah, I'm apparently not going anywhere) and I'll be the first one they call due to Luke's tooth condition. Luke is told he cannot eat anything for two hours. Ummmm....this was hard to do! Luke is ALWAYS hungry and he hadn't had anything to eat or drink since dinner the night before per dentist's orders.

11. So....we journeyed to the McDonald's drive-thru for an approved order of a small ice-cream. The tears disappeared and a smile popped out.

12. The phone rings at 5pm and it's the dentist wanting to find out if Luke is doing OK. I tell him that Luke is outside playing and is looking forward to coming back to his office to get more prizes out of the treasure chest (har har). The dentist asks if Luke took a nap and I tell him, "NOPE". The dentist is surprised and says that Luke must have a very strong will since he's only one of about three children he's ever worked on that didn't take a nap after all that anesthesia. Yeah, our dentist is well into his 50's.

Don't read me wrong - we love our pediatric dentist. He's the best! We will continue seeing him until our teeth rot out. But, I will say that I am going to make a suggestion to him next time we visit: make sure Luke gets a vanilla ice cream flavored drowsy-cocktail.