I found Dr.Curtis when my then husband was deployed to Iraq! Things were tough already, ANOTHER dentist wanted to tie my baby to a papoose board, my 2 year old!!! NO!!!
Dr.Curtis was at Babypalooza and after talking to him a minute, dropped his jaw and said "I think I see a Power Ranger in your mouth, open wide and let me see!" Jordan quickly opened as wide as he could, and held it open a good minute! Dr.Curtis said he looks good, he should be good for the next 6 months, and I'll give you the names of some great dentist out your way.... I just looked at him dumbfounded and said No that's ok, we'll see you in 6 months!
At our first appointment, they took him back alone, and said we'll be right back for you! About 5-10 minutes later they pulled me back, and asked me to be really quiet and look through a door. I looked, my baby was laid back in the chair, mouth wide open, with his shades on his eyes, watching Cars on a TV in the ceiling!! I couldn't believe it!
They warned me that day that children his age usually do throw a fit the second visit, and he sure did! The heads up they gave on that helped me to prepare! But Dr.Curtis and his staff handled it like pro's!! Did I mention Dr.Curtis is a firefighter as well, and his practice is connected to the fire dept.? Talk about giving a 3 year old something to talk about, it took his mind off not wanting to be there!!! I was allowed to go back, they have a massive glass fish tank, and you sit on one side and the children have their teeth cleaned on the other side. This is so that you don't disrupt or distract the child, but you can see and hear everything!!
Dr.Curtis is one of the only local dentists with Hospital privileges at Childrens. When it came time for Bay to have some procedures done at Childrens, Bay was terrified of the Children's Hospital staff! They came to get her to take her back and she just latched onto me and screamed!! They walked out, which I found strange... Minutes later Dr.Curtis comes in claps those hands and reaches out to her. She went from laying on my shoulder to reaching for him! She had only met him a few times. Children just have that connection with him! They just trust him! I trust him, I know that he wouldn't do any wrong to my children! I know that he is honest in his work, I KNOW this because one of my children ALWAYS gets a clean report!
Dr.Curtis touched my heart over 9 years ago when he squatted down and got on the level of my baby boy sitting in his stroller! He was willing to get on Jordan's level, he didn't expect Jordan to be on an adult level with handling himself in a new situation. I asked Dr.Curtis the day I met him if he would ever papoose my child, he looked at me and giggled and said, "I do own a papoose board, but the tags are still on it, I have never used it." Knowing what I know now, that was a silly question! When you can connect with a child in a magical way, they will do anything you ask them too!
"If we could see the world through the eyes of a child we would see magic in everything."
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