I hate the dentist...

No, I should not write a “funny” article on this. The son will kill me when he grows up.

Plus the pain he went through during those minutes… no , there was definitely NOTHING funny in that!!

But, like I keep saying, once the pain is over, the story needs to be told in a way which can be remembered not with pain but with an element of humour in it.

One fine morning it was time to visit the dentist. Our dentist had gone bankrupt, hence the need to look for a new one in the neighbourhood. Fresh registration, hence an introduction visit!! All pretty simple.Till here.

However, the moment Arno settled down on the chair ,we were informed that the front tooth needs to be pulled out !!
Now there is a bit of history attached to the two front teeth.

Last year during summer, Arno had a bad fall from his bicycle. Both front teeth were damaged, one had to be pulled out then, the other could wait, the doctor said. I guess, the wait was over. 
Once this news reached his ears, Arno freaked out,”Mama!!, YOU said it is just a ROUTINE check!!”. I know, I said that.

The doctor, a very young guy (looked fresh out of college and a few years older than Arno himself !!) was a bit taken aback by this reaction. He made a face as if he expected the 6-yr old to jump with glee , smile and hug him with a “love you”!! WHY on earth was this kid freaking out?

He thought he should explain to Arno what the problem with his teeth was (I was actually pretty happy about this idea…kids these days are KEEN for the explanation…our dumb days of not-being-explained-anything-because-you-are-small are gone..). But unfortunately (read it as lack of experience dealing with children), he started describing the situation in medical terms (how the bacteria at the root of the tooth can gradually decay tooth structure and the decay can advance to the pulp hence pulling the tooth is often the treatment of choice). I am not kidding…

This is not the language you use to explain to a child why his tooth needs to be pulled out!!

The child was NOT HAPPY, clearly. Whatever comfort was left in him vanished as soon as the doctor took out his needle to give him the anaesthesia. It was a blunt “ I do not want any injection”. Fullstop. When this sentence did not work, he started crying, small sobs at first, big loud howls after the injection. The anasthesia unfortunately did not work. After three such injections Arno was so angry that he started saying “pain” for every movement of the doctor. He howled, protested, shouted, tried wriggling down from the chair….the young doctor was totally zapped by his behavior. Thankfully, there was an experienced nurse by his side ( I have started replacing the word “older” with “experienced” these days..dont ask me why). She was trying her best to comfort the child in a more “philosophical” language. What she said was,

“We know that you are in pain Arno, but we are trying to help you, for your future”

Arno, by this time was beyond all such smooth talking…he was in pain....plus pain enhanced by anger…plus pain enhanced by helplessness on this chair, mouth open! So he replied (to the nurse),

“Do you even know the meaning of HELP? I did not know HELPING means GIVING PAIN”..

The mother although not exactly proud of the way the son said this……could not help smiling…

Kids these days are smart…I was super dumb at six, am sure, could never have constructed such a sentence on my own….

[The last sentence needs to be deleted before Arno starts reading the blog]

;-)