Laurie's first trip to the dentist

Last night, the children were playing in the den when we heard a loud crash-that is never a good sound! After the loud crash I heard an ear piercing scream coming from Laurie. I ran in there and discovered that she had fallen face first into the hardwood floor. There was no blood but I noticed that part of her right front tooth was missing! Laurie had chipped her front tooth!!!
Immediately this morning I called the dentist and they told me to bring her in. Laurie had never been to the dentist since she is only 22 months old. She did remarkably well though until it was time for the dentist to look in her mouth. I helped by holding her hands and once she realized that the dentist was not going to hurt her she relaxed and let him take a good look. And a good look it must have been because he told me that she would need braces..she's 22 months old for crying out loud!
The dentist explained that since her baby teeth were touching that meant that they were crowded and it would only stand to reason that the permanent ones would also be crowded and probably more so since they are bigger teeth. I had braces myself so I was expecting at least one of my kids to have to wear them too. He also said that we really needed to brush her teeth well since there was more of a chance of her getting cavities since the teeth were touching. GREAT! Laurie is our one child who does NOT like her teeth to be brushed. It is quite an ordeal every night to get the job done far less to get it done right. He also said that only drinking water in between meals would help because less sugar would stay on her teeth and so less cavities (hopefully). I poured out her juice (which I water down anyway) when we got home and put some water in her sippy cup and sure enough she is drinking it. I hope she continues to like the water because she will be drinking alot more of it from now on. Come to think of it, it would probably be a good idea for everyone to drink water in between their meals. I feel like my boys would not like that idea but I may need to support Laurie so she does not think I am punishing her or something.
As for her chipped tooth, he said that it was fine and that we only needed to be concerned if it turned dark in the next week or so. If it does, we will have to take her back and they will have to pull the roots out since the tooth will be dead. The dentist thought that it would probably be fine though and that nothing else would happen to the tooth. It was alot to take in especially in her first visit. Laurie was a happy girl by the time she left though because she got a Dora tooth brush and a prize! So I would say that all in all her first dentist visit was just fine.