Alder's Tone

I’ve used the same dentist for almost 12 years now, and when he went private I stayed with him, even though my clean and polish went from under £20 every six months to £17 every month. But I trust him, more so than any other dentist I’ve had. Including the one I had when I was a student – I needed 2 fillings the last time I saw him, but I missed an appointment so never went back knowing I’d get stung. Anyway, that was in 1994, and to this day I have not had those fillings done. Since my current dentist took me on in January 1997 I have had 3 fillings done – all of which were replacements of old, crumbling ones.

And he’s really handy for me, just two doors away from work. Even when I worked across town I stayed put, the inconvenience was far outweighed by the dentist himself. Location is really handy for our new routine, which we have pretty much got sewn up. As MOTS is off work on a Thursday she comes through with the little fella, parks up in my work’s car park, we head round and have a double appointment. I go first, check, scale, polish, all the while with a very interested audience. Then comes appointment number 2. Thursday saw the third time we’d gone through this, and the third time that all went well. Only this time was a bit more notable.

In went the little fingers to have a feel and a count. Slightly ajar went the mouth. “D to D – all there”. “Can we have a better look?”. And the mouth opens a bit more. “E to E – all there”. Out came the mirror, in went the mirror. And after a really good look at all four corners came the praise. The dentist was very pleased with just how much he’d seen, or rather been allowed to see. Including all the molars, nothing else to come through! With the molars coming through at an average of 2.5 to 3 years he’s a little early. That’s why it’s an average, not a rule. So we did get the advice that his adult teeth might come through earlier too – might, not will.

The fact that his teeth are all through was overshadowed by his superb behaviour. I am so proud that he was well behaved that I haven’t really noticed that there was some news in there too. And he was proud at getting a sticker, too!

Just one advisory, the last molar still has gum over it, so almost there. Which explains the recent gumming, rosy cheek etc. Which all leads to the excuses that MOTS uses drying up shortly.