At The Dentist

Krazy Caity has to have some teeth pulled :( apparently she needs to have her bicuspids removed in order for some other teeth to have room to grow in properly. As most parents know, having teeth removed for any child can be difficult and scary but for children with ADHD and/or sensory issues dental work is a very traumatic experience. Some children like Krazy Caity have a difficult time telling the difference between pressure and pain, this makes for a very scary dental experience.

Even though she is frozen, Krazy Caity cries and stops the dentist multiple times due to "pain" what she really is feeling is pressure but she is unable to tell the difference and perceives them the same. This can be frustrating for any dentist but thankfully our dentist knows all about ADHD. He is gentle, kind and understanding, reassuring Caity that there is nothing to be afraid about and continuing to stop every time she panics. Even though we can only do one tooth at a time I am thankful that we have such a wonderful dentist to go to.

We would have all the teeth pulled at once if it wasn't for Krazy Caity stopping so many times during a single extraction but thankfully our dentist understands our situation. So far we have had two teeth pulled and need to have three more done.

Considering how scary going to the dentist can be, Krazy Caity was a champ and pushed through getting her teeth pulled despite being scared. In fact, she did so well the tooth fairy decided to pay her for her teeth in advance.

If you would like to share your own dentist experience with email your stories to us at GrowingUpADHD@outlook.com Share your stories in the comments or visit our facebook page.

You're Not Taking my Teeth

The title says it all! Recently my girl had a spacer put in her mouth behind her teeth and for some reason she has this idea in her head that the dentist wants to take all of her teeth out. I have no idea where this idea came from and I am trying my best to explain that dentists do more then just pull teeth out but every time we get to the dentist this conversation begins. Dentist – “Time to get in the chair” My girl – “No! You are not taking my teeth out!” Dentist – ” I don’t want to take your teeth out” My girl – “well you can’t have my teeth because they belong to me” Dentist – “I really don’t want your teeth I have my own, see, now can you please get in the chair so I can look at your teeth? I promise I won’t take them out” My girl – “if I have to…… but you are not taking my teeth out…. mommy, make sure he doesn’t take my teeth out” I have to hand it to the dentist, he handles her very well, is calm and laughs at her wanting to keep her teeth. The dental assistant, on the other hand, gets annoyed with my girl fast and I can see the frustration growing on her face the longer we are in the room. I personally can not keep my amusement to myself during these conversations and I am sure I am of little help when I am laughing as I tell my girl that no one is taking her teeth. Now I have thought about this for a while and the only reason why I can think of that my girl would think the dentist wants to take her teeth is because my son has had a few teeth pulled. This is something that my girl has watched happen in the past but never brought up until the most recent tooth extraction my son had in which she was not allowed to watch. Maybe I made a mistake by letting my girl watch her brother have teeth pulled. But, then again this didn’t become a thing until she wasn’t allowed to watch so for now I am just going to go with the flow. Luckily our dentist has ADD himself and understands my girl, it helps that he is a patient man with a go with the flow attitude. Now if only his assistant could pull the stick out of her butt and chill out…