First Dentist Visit

Today was a big day for little Elisa. She went to the dentist for the first time!

We prepped her for about two weeks with questions like, "Elisa, did you know that Mommy is going to go see a lady who will clean her teeth? This lady is really nice and is our friend. She will clean your teeth too!" We talked it up mainly while brushing her teeth in the evening before bed time.

So, this morning we all got up and got ready for our 10am appointment. Dr. Claudia was great with Elisa! She is a pediatric dentist, but happens to be the best we could find. Jennifer and I have been going to her to get our teeth taken care of for most of our time in Brazil. Her office is full of toys, coloring books and stuffed animals and puppets that have huge teeth. While we (the parents) visited with Dr. Claudia, Elisa checked out the office and got acquainted with the toys and such.

Waiting for our turn.

Elisa is playing dentist with a pig that has huge teeth!

Around 11 o'clock Jennifer got in the chair to have her teeth cleaned. This gave Elisa the opportunity to check things out and see that there wasn't anything to be afraid of. When Jennifer finished it was Elisa's turn.

Jennifer laid down in the chair with her, but she still started freaking out. She cooperated for the entire cleaning, but cried a lot. We did end up having a break in the crying that lasted about 2 minutes. She really got the hang of letting the sucker deal get all the water and spit out of her mouth.


By the time it was all over she was a real pro! She has been practicing opening her mouth and showing her teeth. The picture below is a great one of her doing this while sporting her new toothbrush!

Check out my clean teeth and my new Barbie toothbrush!

Although it was a little rough, she had a great first dentist visit and we are really proud. Later on in the day Elisa said about Dr. Claudia, "Nice lady!" To end the day we took her to the store and bought Tutti Frutti flavored Sponge Bob Square Pants toothpaste. What can I say - it was her choice!