my greatest fear; the dentist

The Mother-Daughter Duo

I sit patiently in the chair, clicking onto my phone to distract myself and pass time. As Ollie places a bib on my chest and clips on the dainty metal chain, I click onto snapchat and turn on my camera. I tilt it so that Ollie and I are both in the frame "Ollie, smile," I grin, as he turns his head towards the camera and pokes his tongue out. I snap the pic and save it. He goes back over, to the counter, to help Brooke set up some tools as my mum walks back in with Corina.

"Long time no see," Corina grins, as she walks over to the chair and leans down to hug me. I hug her back and return the grin, "hey!"

Corina slowly pulls away, grabbing a stool as she does and sits down "how're you?"

"I'm good, thank you. You?" I reply, whilst fiddling with my charm bracelet.

"I'm very good, thank you." Corina's smile is infectious and I can't help but focus on her perfect teeth. "A little birdy told me that you're having a check up?"

I sigh and nod "mhm.." I look over at my mum and she is grabbing some gloves and a mask. I focus back on Corina and she gently rubs my shoulder "You've got nothing to worry about."

My mum walks over and sits on a stool, on the opposite side of me. She lays me back and positions the overhead light to my mouth. I look up at her and she smiles gently down at me "this will be over in no time."

Ollie sits next to me and smirks down at me as I playfully hit his leg "ah.." he says under his breath, playing along. I smirk back and then look back up at my mum.

Brooke sits on a chair in the corner, on her phone as there isn't much she can help with.

My mum tucks her mask beneath her chin, so that she can clearly speak to me. "I don't need to run through what I'm going to do because you know the drill," she says with a gentle smile.

I nod "Have you noticed my braces?"

My mum nods and gently uses her gloved finger to put down my lower lip "let me take a proper look."

I grin, clenching my teeth together so she can see.

"Wow, they sure have moved your teeth very quickly," she grabs her mirror and gently retracts my cheek "your bite is looking very very nice." She smiles and takes the mirror out, putting it back on the tray. "I'll take a proper look when they're clean."

I scoff and let out a little laugh "hey! My teeth are already clean."

My mum laughs a little and gently strokes my cheek with her gloved thumb "i'm just playing sweetheart." She says as she holds back a slight smirk. I playfully roll my eyes as she pulls up her mask. "Let's get this show on the road."

"Open wide for me." My mum gently guides my bottom lip open with her mirror and I open my mouth so that she can slip her tools inside.

I lay there for a few minutes as my mum scrapes at my teeth and the edge of my gum-line and calls out numbers to Corina, whose now sat at the computer. I switch my focus between Ollie and my mum, not really knowing where to look and feeling a little awkward. "Nearly done aves, just a few more to go." My mum says before gently moving her tools towards my back teeth. "How often are you brushing and flossing?" She says as she removes her tools to allow me to speak.

"Twice a day, sometimes three." I reply, a little hesitantly as i'm unsure as to why she's questioning.

"Nothings wrong, don't worry. I'm just making sure." She smiles from behind her mask and brings her tools back towards my mouth. "Open nice and wide again." I comply as she gets back to work.

A few minutes go by and she's still checking each and every individual tooth. "So, how's school?"

I mumble and it's pretty much inaudible so my mum removes her tools to allow me to speak. "Don't do that." I say, unimpressed.

My mum furrows her eyebrows "do what?"

"Don't try to have a conversation with me, knowing that I can't reply because my mouth is full of tools. Ollie does it all the time and it really annoys me." I raise my eyebrows.

My mum lightly laughs and Ollie chuckles. "Sorry..It's a typical dentist thing to do. I will just let you lay in silence from now on." My mum smirks from behind her mask. I laugh a little and open my mouth again for her. "Wow, Ollie's trained you well. Opening up before even being asked, what a good girl you are." My mum teases from behind her mask and I just roll my eyes as she finishes scraping at my teeth.

A few minutes later, she takes the tools from my mouth. "All good." She sits me up and disposes of her gloves, before tucking her mask beneath her chin. "Brooke and Ollie are doing a fabulous Job."

I sigh with relief "well, I guess he's an alright dentist to have." I try to hide a smirk from Ollie but he tickles my side and I burst out laughing.

"Mhm, you're so funny Ava." He sarcastically says through gritted teeth and a forced smile.

I smirk at him and hop out of the chair.

We spend the next hour or so chatting about school,  the office and about patient stories that my mum needs to update me on. As the sun slowly starts to set, we all agree that it's time for us to go home. We spend another half an hour or so saying goodbye and exchanging hugs before we make our way home. Leaving my mum and Corina behind.