The Dentist

Kamryn had her first trip to the dentist. Why would a child with 2 teeth in the head need to go to the dentist?  Well because she is 17 months old and only has two teeth.  You can see them in the above picture.  Her medication slows the progression of her teeth.  Most dentists won't see a child before three years of age.  We had to go to Gig Harbor to find a dentist that would see her. 

To make this visit easier I asked for the paperwork ahead of time. It didn't arrive in the mail.  I was handed five sheets of paper to fill out before the appointment.  Good thing we were early.  My friend Tammi who drove us to the appointment, became Kamryn's nanny as I filled out line after line of questions.  I must say the first question confused me. "Is the child healthy?"  Gone are the days of looking at a health questionnaire and quickly checking off the boxes.  The words, "list your child's medications"  made me laugh.  The place to write them down made me laugh harder.  It was an inch and a half long. The word Cyclosporine is an inch and a half long.   Sometimes being the "what if" kind of person comes in handy.  I whipped out my copy of her medications and had the lady copy it.  The paperwork took about 20 minutes, with questions of medical conditions, hospitalizations, immunizations...  Because of a leaking tricuspid valve, Kamryn had an antibiotic prior to her visit.  We were called back a few minutes late. But when you look at the medical questionnaire of a child with a heart transplant you got to have time to study it. I would much rather be called back late than have someone not know whats going on.

 Kamryn had her teeth brushed, the muffled words no, no, no came out of her little mouth.  She wasn't fond of it.  The Dentist came in a little later, we had a discussion, she looked in Kamryn's mouth and gave her a fluoride treatment.  It was good to hear that she has more teeth than just the two visible. We talked a little more about Kamryn.  The Dentist said she would bring Kamryn up in her clinic group to see if any other dentist has had experience with a young heart transplant patient.  She her self has had experience with an older liver transplanted patient but not a heart transplanted patient.  (No HIPPA laws were broken during this discussion.)  Kamryn is not fond of having her mouth opened and her teeth messed with.  This could be a problem for a child who needs to brush her teeth every time something goes in her mouth. At the end of the visit we left with a sleepy child and a $6.00 tube of non fluoride toothpaste.  I hope target sells it cheaper.

Thank you Tammi for being our chariot driver and nanny.  I couldn't have done this without you.