I thought more than once that I should not bother to post on this topic. My son had no cavities in his mouth until he was 14, but he did end up with an orthodontist--too much ivory in too small a space. So we did see dentists pretty frequently afte rhe got older. He NEVER watned me there once he was 10 years old. Felt he could handle what was happening--cleaning and checking only. After car accident, he wanted me to leave (I refused--needed to be there as much for myself as for him). Car was totalled; he was, mostly, fine--thank God for seat belts and shoulder harnesses. AND, our current dentist and local oral surgeon (to whom I have brought babies for snipping tongue-ties) both are quite comfortable with parents staying with children. In fact, the oral surgeon puts a parent in the chair and has them hold the baby--usually they go to sleep listening and feeling Dad"s or Mom's heartbeat! (I go with parents, so have seen this). We simply need to keep looking and insisting and those horror stories of children being abused verbally or physically will stop. I believe wwe also need to inform those professionals who are sensitive to parents and children's needs that we really appreciate their practices. This is sure to get back tot he students who observe in such practices. And that is likely to increase the potential for similar practices by future practitioners. Soap box is now empty! :-) Def. of LC service: "We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations." Kathleen G. Auerbach,PhD, IBCLC (Homewood, IL)- [log in to unmask] WEB PAGE: http://www.mcs.com/~auerbach/lactation.html