When Dillen was an infant and her very first tooth popped through, I rushed to make an appointment with a pediatric dentist. I had some concern about the tooth - was it in the right place; was it the right size; the right color; the right shape. But to be honest, I was just so giddy with excitement over this huge milestone that I wanted to show it off to an expert - and I wanted to hear all of the comments from said expert on how absolutely amazing and beautifully perfect her first tooth was. The appointment lasted for approximately 10 seconds and visions of the nurse's eyes rolling still dance in my head.

3 1/2 years later, Dillen has not seen a dentist since. Until this morning.

Guilt finally set in just enough that I got up the courage to make the phone call yesterday. When the receptionist asked how old she was I proudly replied, "She's turning 4 next week!" But the next question deflated any proud feathers I had ruffled: "When was her last check up?" I hemmed and hawed for a bit, "Well, you see, she HAS been. It's just been a while. And then we had another baby. Maybe we should make an appointment for Roxy, too. That's Dillen's little sister. Anyway, we're new to the area and we need to find a new dentist and I saw the sign on your building and you are so close I thought I would give you a call to see if you could see Dillen - and, well, maybe Roxy, too." My ramblings kept the receptionist from probing that particular question any further and, to my surprise, they were able to make the appointment for today.

We are a little strict on Dillen's intake of juice but she eats her fair share of sweets. And brushing isn't exactly a twice a day priority for her though we do insist on once a day. And when I breast fed Dillen, I will admit that she fell asleep while nursing (for naps and throughout the night) - which I have been told could cause tooth rot. Needless to say, I was just a bit nervous to have her examined by the dentist.

When we walked in, there was the mascot (Dudley the Dinosaur) plastered everywhere. They had a large selection of toys to play with and even a little playhouse with a puppet theatre attached. It was a friendly atmosphere and both Dillen and Roxy felt comfortable and happy immediately.

I had sort of set Dillen up for the appointment. I knew they would want to do a check up, cleaning and x-rays. I told Dillen that this appointment was special so that she would have beautiful sparkly white princess teeth for her birthday. She agreed that this was a good idea.

Again, my feathers got to experience a fair amount of proud-parent-ruffling as I was told over and over by the staff how sweet, patient and well-mannered Dillen was. She even agreed to have all 6 x-rays done (which I was told was rare for her age) and chatted up with the assistants so much that she was on a first-name basis with them by the end.

Once the cleaning and x-rays were completed, we met the dentist. She counted Dillen's teeth (20) and looked for any cavities and then studied her x-rays. She said that her teeth look beautiful; there are no cavities present; and the spacing her current teeth have are perfect for later when her adult teeth come in.

Whew.

Then it was Roxy's turn and all Hell broke loose. She did not want anything to do with anyone touching her face, let alone her mouth. Fortunately, it was similar to my first experience with Dillen in that all the dentist wanted to do was a quick 10 second check up on her teeth. She, too, was given an A+ report (though I would have given her a C for attitude).

There was a cool treasure chest full of special toys for the girls to choose from at the end of the appointment. Because Dillen did such a good job, she left with quite a bit of booty: flip up sunglasses (pink and yellow), a new Ariel toothbrush, two stickers, a hot pink flosser and a t-shirt. Roxy got a fish bath toy.