The dentist is not a monster *UPDATE*

That's the name of the book I read to Kyle before his first trip to the dentist. It's a great story about a little boy who's nervous to go to the dentist, but soon learns that the dentist is actually very nice and not scary at all. Before he learns this though, the little boy imagines the dentist as a monster with a jack hammer. Of course that's the part of the story Kyle fixates on.

Kyle's first experience at the dentist turned out to be no experience at all. He wouldn't even sit in the chair. He didn't cry or throw a huge fit, but just flat out refused to sit in the chair. Even though he just watched Jacob get his teeth cleaned and even after he saw Jacob get a toy and a new toothbrush. (Jacob, by the way was very sweet to Kyle. Coaxing him gently that it would be okay and that it wasn't scary at all.) When Kyle has his mind made up though, there's no changing it.

I rescheduled with a pediatric dentist and Kyle was a completely different kid. He LOVED visiting the dentist. He sat and did everything the hygienist asked. He let them do X-rays and clean and floss his teeth. Smooth sailing! But that may all change at his next appointment...when they fill two cavities...tomorrow. I haven't told him yet that he has cavities. I don't want to ruin his great experience because he's so proud of himself. He does know he's going back to the dentist and he's very excited, but I'm sad his new perception of the dentist may change after this appointment.


**Update**
Kyle didn't cry or scream...because he never even sat down in the chair or opened his mouth today.
Just like his first trip, he didn't say or do anything on the way to the dentist to indicate that he was nervous or wouldn't cooperate. I think things went wrong when the dental assistant showed Kyle to the "yellow" room. It was very coolly decorated in an outer space theme, however it wasn't the "green" room that he had the last time. He said he wanted to sit in the green chair but then later decided he didn't want to sit in the green chair either. So our options were either force him to have the dental work done or reschedule and put him under general anesthesia at the hospital. Obviously I wasn't going to force him or restrain him in the chair, but I wasn't too keen on our other choice either. I'm going to research other options, but for now our hospital visit is scheduled in three weeks.