Visiting Dr Dentist



It was Owain's and Caitlin's maiden visit to the good dentist. Prior to the visit, I did nothing to prime them, to prepare them. Just told them that I was making an appointment to go. The kids were agreeable, excited and looking forward to it. Weird kids I have.


So today, we visited Dr Ben Lim of Hosanna Dental. Lovely man. He said I have lovely kids. Well, thank you doctor. You're a lovely guy yourself. :-) But seriously, we've always taken our kids to see him and he's always been very friendly and very funny, not alarmist (my kinda doctor) and not trigger-happy. And he's not expensive either.


His fluorescent-lit clinic is a no-frills set-up right in the heart of Toa Payoh, his chair is faded and a bit worn round the edges, there is no fancy plasma tv on the ceiling playing Disney cartoons or Winx Club, no one blows bubbles to distract children, there are no toys etc. He's not your posh pediatric dentist. The only concession to any 'decor' is a wall lined with children's drawings - his patients. But the man, who has three boys of his own, has heart and knows how to work children the right way. He jokes, puts on accents, teases and that's how he gets the job done. In between his teasing running commentary, he would interject a line like: okay, mummy look over here and see.... This is a bit of decay here...


So what was the damage 'literally'? Well, Owain has the start of decay on his two front teeth, which are set so close together, it was a no-brainer for food bits to get lodged and for decay to set in. Dr Lim mentioned Sam's son Timmy as a similar case. I remember Timmy's case, and Dr Lim and I discussed whether we should put in fillings. We decided not to because first, it would need drilling and I really want to keep the first visit trauma-free/pain-free, and secondly, the filling would be dislodged pretty easily within a couple of months. So no point. He just polished Owain's teeth, and told me to floss the two front upper teeth once every two days or so. If the decay got worse and chipped off, and a sharp edge was left, he would just file it down.


Caitlin had two cavities and Dr Lim filled those up nicely and quickly. Looking at them, you can't even tell that they are fillings. She also had her teeth polished.


The session ended with each kid getting a balloon for being so co-operative. Yes, the good doctor has learnt a few new tricks since the last time we met - he is now able to deftly blow (dental equipment sure comes in handy here - they ought to teach this in dentistry school!) and twist balloons - so Cait got a lovely pink heart on a stand and Owain had a yellow sabre.


Dr Lim said the kids were great. I agree. They were very co-operative, no wailing, no screaming or struggling etc. He said I 'trained' them well. Yes, I told him, my whip and the ball and chains do come in handy.


I asked the kids what they thought about the visit to the dentist and both said it was fun and they wanted to go again!! Lovely kids - but weird... :-)