My dentist's daughter...

is me, that is, until my dad retired a few years ago, he was my dentist ever since I can remember. One would think the daughter of a dentist has great teeth, au contraire...I probably have the worst teeth and gums on the planet. Blame it on my own laziness coupled with an inherent desire to disobey whatever order was cast down upon me by parental figures. Yah...I showed them! After two periodontal surgeries and continued dental visits for close maintenance, I am still winning the battle of never listening to my parents about good dental hygiene.

That must be what I passed down to my daughter who is 3 years old now and in need of serious dental work under general anesthesia. I can blame it on the evil bottles at night, her constant battles on brushing in the morning, or simply my own crackpot theory that if I don't push her like my own parents did with me, she would do it on her own eventually. WRONG! Now I find myself having to schedule a hospital day for her to get her rotting front teeth capped and a deep cleaning to take advantage of her inability to struggle while she's under.

My 2 year old son, on the other hand, who is much more compliant and cooperative in terms of brushing, has pearly whites. He also chugs his bottle in one sitting and is done. Does not need to nurse on it while watching TV or vegging out. He hands me the empty bottle shaking it back and forth to show me it's empty and is on his way to bigger and better things...his Thomas trains.

We have two dogs, one of which is a Jack Russell Terrier. She has BAD breath and is in need of doggie dental intervention. She is also a candidate for general anesthesia while getting her teeth cleaned and polished. I never thought I'd have a legacy of dental issues right down to my dog for being defiant to my dentist father. Karma is scary!