Dentist

Williams Syndrome presents itself in (among other things) a variety of dental problems, including defective tooth enamel, which can lead (obviously) to tooth decay. Don't ask me to explain why the tooth enamel is defective because I can't--just accept that it is what it is (I'm so zen).

At our last appointment with the geneticist, he suggested that we begin monitoring Buddy's teeth now. Thusly and henceforth, I made a dentist appointment for him, which was today. At the appointment, we were given a questionaire to fill out. One of the questions was, "Do you think your child will react negatively to a dental exam?" I answered, "Um, yeah." Not really. I just checked the "Yes" box and moved on to the next question. Are there any 17-month-old children who do not react negatively to dental exams?

And, during the exam (which was all of 60 seconds and involved no instruments or high-pitched noises), Buddy reacted as I had predicted. The dentist had him lay down backwards on my lap and proceeded to examine his mouth while he screamed bloody murder. I suppose it was rather convenient for the dentist, since B's mouth was wide open.

The end result was that Buddy's teeth look fine--the enamel seems to be normal and without defect for now. We'll see the dentist on a six-month schedule to keep tabs on the teeth. In the meantime, I suppose I should remember to brush his teeth more routinely . . . .