Teeth Care

When Nina was born, she had two lower incisors’, one of which was moving.  It surprised a lot of people (us included) but it did not really bother us.  However, the doctors cautioned us that because one tooth was unstable, there was that danger that she could swallow the tooth and/or choke on it.  So we were advised to see a pediatric dentist.

just a few days old, her teeth showing  at the lower gumline

At that time, we had not brought kuya to see a dentist yet so we had to rely solely on the dentist that was recommended to us.   Imagine our shock when that dentist simply pulled down Nina’s lip, took a peek and told us, “yes, that has to be removed”  -- and then subsequently charged us P1,000.00 for that 1 minute diagnosis.  Geez, even I can do that!  Besides, even the untrained eye would be able to tell that the tooth needed to be extracted.  When she extracted the tooth (which only took 5minutes since the tooth was very loose) she charged us another P1,000.00.  If we hand known it would be that simple, I would have just asked my sister-in-law, who graduated from Dentistry, to do it for us!  Talk about highway robbery.  After that incident, we stayed clear from any pediatric dentists.

As Nina grew bigger, we noticed that her teeth were not as nice as Kuya’s.  They were beginning to show some stains although we weren’t quite sure if these were stains or cavities.  It was only after Nina’s cranio surgeon (Dr. Tansipek) requested us rather hesitantly, to see a pediatric dentist that the alarm sounded off.  He explained that because there may be a need for him to do cranio work on Nina around 7years old, it was important that her teeth are kept in good condition since the cranio work would affect her teeth as well.

Nina before her recent visit to the dentist

Upon the recommendation of Dr. Tansipek, we headed off to Dra. Fina Gupit-Lopez of the Pediatric DentistryCenter along Banawe Street in Quezon City.  We were greeted by a young and cheerful doctor who was perfect with the kids (such a far cry from the 1k dentist we previously went to).  Both hubs and I (as well as the kids) immediately warmed up to Dra. Lopez.  Not only was she great with the kids, she was very patient with them even if it was obvious that she wasn’t exactly having an easy time.  To top it off, the fees charged by the clinic were so much more reasonable than the fees charged by 1k dentist.  Thank God we found them!

So now, Nina’s teeth have been treated with fluoride and sealed to prevent any further damage.  Our next step is to wean her from the night time feeding so that the last thing she does before going to sleep is to brush her teeth.  We’ve been trying and for about a week, hubs was able to put her to sleep without her asking to feed from me.  And then suddenly, we were -- and still are, back to square one again…  hopefully, we’ll be able to figure out a way to wean her with minimal resistance.  Perhaps it's because generally their facial construction has been affected by Aperts but we find it difficult to get her to open her mouth wide enough so that we can thoroughly brush her teeth.  It's especially hard for us to get to cleaning her front teeth because there doesn't seem to be enough skin for us to pull up/out to expose the incisors.

This is what Nina's teeth look like now.  The pink stuff is the sealant that the dentist applied, the green stuff is what she ate ;-) and the small peg of a tooth seems to be part of what the 1k dentist pulled out (yup, she did a miserable job despite the fact that she charged an exorbitant price for it).  There are times life throws you a curved ball and you don't necessarily get what you paid for.

well treated and protected teeth

Summer Activities

Kids all over Manila are having their summer break right now and with school out, I just needed to come up with some activities at home to keep the kids entertained rather than have them sit in front of the television the whole day.

The weather has been incredibly hot since April so naturally, we just had to bring out the inflatable pool.  In as much as we’d like Nina to have as much swimming time in the pool, we needed to be careful that she didn’t catch a cold since her colds tend to progress to a cough and then at times to pneumonia.   Poor baby, she couldn’t swim as much as she wanted to.  Our strategy was that we allowed her kuya to get in the pool earlier than her and after say 10-15 minutes, then she could join him.  Then to avoid any jealousy, they had to get out simultaneously.  Of course, for Nina it was much harder to get her out and we’d often end up with a crying baby who would say “miming” in between sobs. 

Considering our fear of her catching a cold, we couldn’t let them go swimming everyday so one weekend, we decided to take them out to Tagaytay Highlands where I used to work.  I had fond memories of the Animal Farm in Highlands back then, especially of the orangutan named Chino since he was kinda cute and would often have photo ops with the children.  Of course, that was something like 10years ago so imagine my shock when I saw how huge Chino had grown!  Still the kids enjoyed themselves and that was what was important.  Aside from seeing the animals up close, they got to ride on a horse (both real and imaginary) and they got a kick out of that as well (tho not literaly).

We also included them in a free summer pre-school given to kids where I work.  The experience was nothing new to Kuya since he attended the program last summer and some of this year’s students were his classmates last school year.  Nina on the other hand, although it was her first time, did not have any adjustment problems and proved herself ready for school.

Of course, we still did the usual drawing, play doh, building blocks, coloring and puzzle activities, but I was running out of ideas - quickly!  

Then I remembered finger painting!  My friends had given me a recipe for homemade fingerpaint but with Yaya 1 on vacation and me trying to catch up on work and cooking, there was simply no time for me to make it.  So I got whatever was available in the bookstore.  Luckily, we had a big roll of paper in the house which served as their canvass as well as protection for our floors.  The end result?  Let’s just say that for Nina it became a combination of Finger Painting and Body art.  She had lots of fun tho.  So with just a few weeks left, I still want to think of other activities that they can do… any suggestions?