The dental assistant was wonderful and treated Nathanial like a little boy, not a grownup. He ended up laughing so hard that she had to take a break from the cleaning so we could all calm down.
This week, however, the visit was quite different. The same dental assistant wasn't there and this new one eyed me warily as I stood to follow Nathanial into he office.
"Do you HAVE to come?" she asked,
"They usually behave better without their parent."
I just gave the "get a grip" look and went in.
I recommended she not talk about the Novocain shot that was sitting just out of Nathanial's view. The cavity was less than 2 months old and I didn't feel it was necessary to expound on the joys of having a needle in your gums.
The dentist came in, showed the drill to Nathanial and went to work. Now, bearing in mind that the thought of the dentist makes me want to hurl, I was doing a good job of keeping eye contact with Nathanial and Gabriel was pantomiming the "head-back-multiple-hands-in-mouth-view" that he had from his spot in the sling.
Less than 10 seconds of drilling went by, in which Nathanial held still but the tears flowed, he sat up when the dentist topped the drill and said,
"It really hurts, mom."
The dentist, instead of saying anything comforting or appropriate, STOPPED working and said
"I wont do any more until you stop crying. It doesn't hurt so stop acting like it does. Be a big boy and stop crying." (!!!!)
Picking my jaw up off the floor, I immediately said,
"If he says it hurts, then it hurts? How do you know? Is it your tooth?"
If it was not for the fact that the tooth was already drilled, I would have left the office right then.
In silence the jerk, er, I mean the dentist filled the tooth, stood up and walked out of the room without another word. I picked up Nathanial and told him he did a great job (which he did) and that it was all over. He was crying from the sense of relief that is was over. I know I am OK during a crisis, but I need to release the tension with tears when I can.
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