Floss every night???

Andrea, mom of Lauren, 10

Lauren is often apprehensive.  She is definitely concerned whenever we visit the dentist, although the time before the last, she voluntarily sat in his chair.  The last time, apprehension in full swing, she ran around the office a bit, avoiding the chair.  Eventually, with Dad’s help, we persuaded her to sit in the chair for the examination to begin.

The dentist says, “I see a little build up of tartar here… and here… Are you flossing her teeth?  She needs to have her teeth flossed every night.  It’s very important.   …. (and on and on….) I floss my children’s teeth every night….”

I finally interject, “But Dr. S, your children don’t have autism.  I’m just happy I get to brush her teeth at all!”  He persisted with the discussion on flossing, trying to impress the urgency of the situation on me.  Maybe this was like the straw that broke the camel’s back.   I abruptly walked out of his office and started to cry.  Doesn’t he understand?  How can he compare what he can do with his typical children to my child and my efforts?  Just getting to the dentist is a major accomplishment, not to mention flossing!