Random Dental Stories

Avery

So here I am. At the dentist. My least favourite place in the world. I wouldn't say that I'm scared, not necessarily. I merely get uncomfortable with some random person who I cannot see the face of sticking sharp tools and God knows what else into my mouth, causing all sorts of discomfort. You know, it's really not my idea of a good time. I hear the monotonous clicking of the clock to the left of me. Sadly, or maybe not, it goes extremely slow, each click getting further away from each other, isolating themselves completely from eachother. All I can do is check my phone, fidgiting and hope they completely forget about me.

"Avery Jones?" A dental nurse in lilac scrubs comes out, calling my name. The butterfies in my stomach flutter around, making me feel rather nauseous. Well, I guess I was wrong, I must be scared. I slowly push myself out of the dark blue chair that once supported me. It's a good job too, because I'm not sure I could support myself on my own.

The nurse, I'm going to call her Lavender purely based on her scrub colour of choice, guides me down a long, stark white hallway. Every step I take, those butterflies gain even more energy, like particles being heated in an airtight container. Eventually, we arrive at room A19 and Lavender gently shoos me into the room, sensing my unease. Not sure whether I should sit down or remain standing, I decide the latter option sounds more my speed. Apparently that wasn't the right decision, since a moment later, Lavender breaks the silence. "Do you want to sit down on the chair hun?"

"Oh..umm, sure, I guess." I walk over and gently place myself in the chair, the butterflies going crazy. Lavender tells me that Dr Parker will be in with me shortly and that I should just wait here and get myself comfortable, if that's even possible. True to her word, not long after me sitting down, a man approximately 26 years old comes into the room, tight blue scrubs showing off his muscles. Oh wow, he's gorgeous! He has fluffy, dark, unruly hair, naturally tanned skin, what looks to be deep hazel eyes and a fair bit of height, I'd say about 6 foot. "Hi....."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Dr Parker, but you can call me Matthew, or Matt if you'd prefer." He extends his hand out to me, offering me a handshake which I gracefully accept. "So, the plan for today is to have a quick look around, make sure everything is ok, then a quick clean and you should be on your way, provided we find no issues during your checkup. So, mind if I run through a few medical questions since you are new to our practice and therefore, our database?" I find myself in a total trance, but somehow manage to let out a little 'sure'. Slowly but surely, the butterflies are beginning to die down. "Ok, excellent. So, full name?"

"Avery Maria Jones"

"Age?"

"24 last August"

"Any medications?"

"Nope"

This goes on for a short while, giving me time to get used to my surrounding and my new dentist. After his last question, he annouces, "Right, now I'm just going to lean the chair back and we can get this show on the road. That is, if you are ok with that?". Here come the butterflies again. I let out another slight nod, giving him the green light to start.

The chair starts to lower as he moves away, washing his hands thoroughly before applying a face mask and a pair of gloves. I hear the snapping of the gloves as he lets go, sending shivers down my spine, though he somehow doesn't notice. He manouvers the light so it points directly at my mouth, then pulls the table of foreign looking tools over my chest.

"Okie doki, just open wide when you're ready" I take a deep breath before reluctently opening my mouth to him. I decide against closing my eyes, deciding instead to look into his hazel eyes. I begin to realise that, that too, was a bad idea when I hear the scraping of metal on my teeth and begin to break down. It's all too much for me. Tears start leaking out of my eyes before I can stop them, smudging whatever eye makeup I decided to put on this morning. Before I know it, the chair is being raised and Matt's gloves and mask are off, his arms wrapped tightly around my shaking body and he whispers things in my ear to try to calm me down.

"Hey, hey, hey. You're ok, you're fine. Nothing is going to hurt you, you're completely safe, I promise. Follow my breathing. In......and out......" He breathes in and out, slowing his breath to try and get me to slow mine. I try to mimic his breathing. We sit there for a while until all that can be heard is the occasional sniffle or ragged breath from me. Crap, now I've got to explain what the hell that was. "What was that?" I knew it.

"I j...just got a little bit sc...scared. I'm ok now." Jesus, I'm not convincing anyone with that, not even myself.

"Are you sure? You can talk to me if you want to. That's what I'm here for after all, to help." I look up into his eyes again and see them staring back at me. In this moment, with me in his arms, I completely forget where I am and the situation I'm currently in. All there is is him. Him and I. "Avery?" Shit, I spaced out.

"Uhh, I just may have underestimated how scared I was of the dentist. I think I'm feeling a bit better now, thank you." I can feel myself practically melting away. I need to keep my guard up. I am here after all.

"Alright. Just let me know, when I'm working in your mouth, if you ever need something, or need me to stop, or if you're just getting a little overwhelmed. I promise I will stop straight away, you can trust me. We will go at your pace. I want you to feel as comfortable as possible."

"Ok, that sounds ok. I...I think I'm ready to start again. If you promise to stop if I need you to." I hold out my pinky towards him, deadly serious. He gives a slight chuckle before linking his pinky with mine and shaking, sealing the promise.

"I promise." Welp, here goes nothing. I give him a nod, letting him know that he can start. Again. He begins all over again, leaning the chair down, washing his hands, gloving and masking up, moving the light and the tools over my chest. Hopefully this time I don't absolutely lose it. "Alright Lovely, open wide when you're ready. And remember, we go at your pace." I take yet another deep breath, though it sounds more like a heavy sigh, and slowly open my mouth, this time being more cautious. "Great job. You're doing really good." He praises me and I mentally chuckle. 'All I did was open my mouth'.

I hear the familiar scraping of the metal on my teeth again, both the sound and the feeling going through me and making me shiver. I close my eyes gently, so as not to experience this more than I absolutely need to. Throughout the whole exam, Matt repeats little words of praise and hope like "almost done" and "you're doing excellent". I eventually feel at ease enough, but not fully yet, to open my eyes. As soon as I do, I'm greeting with those doe brown eyes. I feel safe.

"Aaaand that's it. You're all done. Everything looks great. I've deecided to leave your cleaning for today and have you come back another day. You seem far to nervous with an exam, let alone a cleaning. However, despite your fear, you did great Avery." He says as he leans up the chair, takes off his gloves and his mask and turns off the light. I smile, accepting his compliment and happy that this is all over for today. "I'd....uhh, really like to see you again. I mean, away from here. Are you free Saturday?"

"I am. And I'd love to see you again." We make our plans and he gives me his phone number. He walks me out and I book my next appointment for my cleaning a week from now. I get back into my car and just think.

Matt.