First Dentist Appointment

Here's Rebecca showing off her newly cleaned teeth. And her green face. I still haven't figured out what she colored her face with, and it doesn't come off easily, but at least she waited to paint her face until after her dentist appointment.

I dropped the ball on the kids' teeth these past few years. We made a point of having their teeth checked and cleaned right before we moved to Germany, and then the thought of finding a new dentist and taking them for appointments was hidden in some dark dusty corner of my brain. A few months ago I realized that if we didn't get them to the Zahnarzt before we moved back to the U.S., I was going to get an earful from our American dentist back home.

In December, I got the name of an English-speaking dentist in the area and I called to make appointments for checkups. The receptionist managed to get all the kids scheduled for 2 weeks in the future, all at the same time. This struck me as suspicious. At the drop of a hat, the dentist can see my 4 kids for a check-up/cleaning, all at the same time?

What I know about German dentisty is next to nothing. I had heard a funny story about a friend who was living in Germany years ago and made an appointment to get his teeth cleaned. The dentist entered the room on appointment day and asked why my friend was there. He replied, "For a cleaning." The dentist said, "What do you mean "for a cleaning?" You should "clean" your own teeth." He left the office without having his teeth cleaned. And then I found out that Germans only go for a dental check-up once a year. That did make me feel a bit better. By German standards, we weren't that far behind.

Before I hung up with the dentist's office, I confirmed the time of the kids appointments and said, "OK, now that's for a check-up. So, they're teeth will be cleaned during that appointment, right?" "No," said the receptionist, "This appointment is just for a check-up. The dentist will examine your children's teeth and decide if they need to be cleaned." OK, now it all made sense. Germans go for checkups once a year, but they're not necessarily getting cleanings each time.

So, we all went for the quick checkups, and the German/American differences were noticed right away when the receptionist told me that I was supposed to accompany the kids into the exam room. That was not encouraged back in the U.S. But more surprising was the news that the dentist did not see any cavities with any of the kids. They did all need a cleaning, though.

Today was Bex' cleaning, her first "real" dental appointment, and she handled the entire appointment in German just fine. They even had a video monitor on the ceiling to amuse kids with a DVD during appointments. That's no doubt standard in most pediatric dental offices now, but we certainly couldn't watch a movie during appointments when we were kids!