Dentist

Finding doctors and professionals to work with Aiden has always been challenging.  I always did my homework and researched doctors beforehand to see if they had any experience with special needs children.  They weren’t that easy to find.  Aiden’s first dentist did not have that experience and the importance of that really revealed itself after his first dental procedure.  We never went back.  I started my research all over again and expanded the searching area.  I finally found someone who had special needs experience and what a difference it made! Not just in how well she handled Aiden’s fears but just how genuinely kind she was and made so much effort to make me feel comfortable as well Aiden.  She is also an out-of-the-box thinker and offered me a different, not well known, approach to a dental issue Aiden was having.  It ended up saving me a ton of money and Aiden a lot of pain and frustration.

Going to the dentist, for all those early visits, required a lot of preparation on our part. Consistently reminding Aiden of when we were going, what the experience would be like, and showing him pictures. Each visit always initially started with fear and anxiety but then they would wrap him up in a papoose (it was incredibly difficult trying to find a dentist who would use a papoose) and then start on all their different ways of making him comfortable and more relaxed.  Each time would get a tiny bit easier.  I remember, early on, one of the hygienists looked at me, smiled, and said “you know it won’t be too long before he’s going to walk in here easily, without you, and without using this papoose”.  In my head I responded “ya okay lady you don’t know my kid”.  And now, I am so happy to report that she was right!