My First Trip to the Dentist

I gave school a miss today and I only awoke at 10am. It sounds lovely, doesn't it? Most of my school friends would agree with me. Unfortunately there was a reason for me to give school a miss today. I had a swelling in my mouth on my lower left jaw, and I had to go to the dentist.

There were ominous signs that the day would not be a good one. For starters, it was snowing. Heavily. My alarm clock failed to ring. I couldn't find my bottle of painkillers after I woke up. Then, on the road, it would seem that every traffic light we came across was red. The trip took an agonizing 20 minutes which could have been 2 decades to me.

Finally when we arrived at the dentist's office, we had to do something I was very strongly against. Trudge through the snow to the front door of the building. I was against it at first, but thinking about the pain in my mouth, which could very well be a mouth tumour, I grudgingly walked through that white hell.

There was, of course paperwork to fill out, as it would be my first time at that dentist. I noticed there was a huge playpen and computers with games for toddlers. I was thinking, "Wow! They really go to great lengths to ensure their patients children are well taken cared of and entertained while their mommy or daddy was having their teeth checked." But then I noticed, while the chairs were big enough for adults, they were only 2 feet tall. And there were pictures of smiling dinosaurs on the chairs. And on the walls. And on the carpet.

It was only after I came across a particularly difficult question, however, did I truly realise where I have been taken to. the questions were, "Would the patient resist treatment," and "When did was the patient last breastfeed/bottle".

"You took me to a pediatrician?!" I exclaimed, loudly.

It was then I was told that everyone here goes to a pediatrician until they were 18 years old. So, although I was 17 and-a-half, I had to go see a kiddy dentist.

Its so much different from back home. My dentist sees everyone. He gave me my first checkup, and a few months ago, put in 4 gold teeth into my grandma's mouth. Best of all, my dentist is an old friends of my dad's, and was very kind to me.

So I was brought to the X-ray machine, which was pretty impressive, then brought to the dentist's office, which was decorated with more dinosaurs. There was a flat screen TV that could be tilted above the dentist's chair, puzzle games on a low shelf, and another one of those short chairs in the corner. Other then that, it was a pretty unimpressive office. My dentist back home has a more modern office. At least he has stopped using the little mirror, and brought in a mini video camera.

I contemplated my situation as I stared out of the 3rd storey window with a magnificent view of the parking lot. The nurse came in and offered to turn on "Spongebob Squarepants" for me. I gave her one of those looks that said "I know you are joking with me, and I don't like it," and she gave me the look that went, "I know."

Worse was to come, however when my foster mom came in to wait with me. She kept on joking about my situation which on a regular day, I would laugh together and agree, but on a day when I am not on painkillers? People better get out of my way.

As is the custom here, the dentist kept me waiting for half an hour before showing up without so much as a sorry. The problem with pediatricians are that they are so used to working with a child, they no longer are able to speak in a way that is acceptable to ordinary people. I just sat there and mumbled "uhuh", as it is not easy to argue when someone is poking around my mouth, checking the areas that don't merit checking. I just wanted to scream, "I know I have an infection, would you quickly look at it, agree with me, and give me something to cure it, please." but instead I just said, "Really?"

Well that's all done. I'm at home now. the painkillers are starting to kick in. I feel sleepy. I wonder if I could skip school another day?