It takes a special kind of person to be a children's dentist. I took Zoe in to have a cavity filled. After her traumatic tooth-injury and pulling during the summer, she was truly terrified to go back. We tried, in September, to take her for a cleaning and exam. She screamed and kicked and cried and flailed as though we were pulling teeth (which she probably assumed we were.)
So I suggested that we wait 3 months to let the fears abate before confronting the dental chair again. This time we were at least able to get Zoe to lie back easily and open her mouth (while holding my hand and sobbing,) which was a huge step up from the last visit.
Then Dr. Tim administered the "sleepy-tooth juice," and I must say, this is really and truly a performing art form. The giant needle was kept hidden from Zoe's view at all times, and he was able to remove it swiftly and hide it during those few times she started grabbing, pushing and rolling. All the while he was speaking soothingly, gently patting her hair, and wiping the tears away. And of course, no one said the N word or talked about pain!
I am going to go ahead and give myself a giant star, here, too, because I didn't even cry! Go mom! While they were working on the filling, I told her I could see her tooth and see how nice it was looking and how strong it was going to be. To console her screams, I said,"Yes, I know that juice tastes really bad. Sorry about that. You can spit it out soon."
I wonder if she was thinking, "DUH Mother! I'm crying because it hurts, not because it tastes bad!" But, you know, focusing on the minor annoyance may have helped her to take her mind off the giant drill hammering her tooth into her skull.
When it was all done (and so QUICKLY, by gosh! What TALENT!), Zoe was relieved and recovered instantly. Gentle Dr. Tim, with his sunny disposition, remarked that she seemed none worse-for-the-wear and deserved a nice helping of ice cream. He commented, "the good news is, she screamed with her mouth wide open the whole time!" :)
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