Why people hate the dentist

We took Jack in for his first dentist visit last Friday. We'd been putting it off and putting it off, mainly because every time I'd bring up the possibility of going to Jack, he'd say that he didn't want to go. I figured there wasn't any need to push it. We brush his teeth regularly, and he doesn't eat many sweets. How bad could it be, right?

The day of the appointment, he was actually excited to go. Once we were there, he was awesome. He let them take x-rays, clean his teeth, and even let the dentist scrape some plaque off. But then the dentist told us that Jack had a cavity in one, maybe two, of his back molars and that they would have to fill them. My heart sank.

Honestly, there's a part of me that still doesn't believe it. I feel so bad for the poor little guy. Especially after they explained to me what the sedation procedure is. I've been calling around to see if any other local dentist does something less invasive, but I'm secretly hoping that they'll re-examine Jack and tell me that he doesn't have any cavities at all.

For now, we aren't mentioning anything about the cavities to Jack. He had been so good when he went, it seems downright unfair that he has to go back to get drilled and filled. I really don't want to scar him and have him be scared of going back to the dentist for the rest of his life. The other thing is, we've told him several times that he's not allowed to have juice at night after he brushes his teeth because we don't want him to get cavities. And now, here he is with a cavity even though he was doing everything "right." Poor little guy.

We have a couple of months before we have to get it done. In the meantime, a friend of his is going to go through a similar procedure with this same dentist in a couple of weeks. We'll see how he does before I completely flip out.