I closed the old creaky door of the dentist office as I walked in, not really sure what to expect. After moving to the UK, I'd had to find a new dentist and I'd heard good things about this place.
As I looked to my left a young man popped his head up from the reception desk. I approached the desk and read his name badge - 'Harry'. "Hiya darl, you okay?" he asked with a thick British accent. "Yeah, I have an appointment at half past three" I replied quietly. His green eyes scanned his computer screen. "Perfect, I have you in here with Dr. Tomlinson. I see you already did all of the paperwork online so you can just have a seat over there".
I made my way over to one of the chairs in the corner and sat through the agonising wait. Eventually, a young blond guy in scrubs approached me. "Aoife?" I looked up from my magazine, I hadn't heard someone pronounce my name right since I got to the UK. "I'm Niall, I'm the dental assistant. The dentist is just ready for you now." He signalled me to follow him.
We walked down a short corridor. "I'd recognise an Irish name any day of the week, where ya from?" he asked me. "I'm from Galway, I've just moved here". He smiled. "Ah right, I'm from Westmeath myself, Mullingar". It was oddly comforting knowing he was Irish too for some reason.
Niall opened a white door into the dental surgery. Another young enough but kind looking guy was sitting on a stool in the room "Hi love, have a seat wherever you're comfortable". I opted to sit on one of the normal chairs beside the dental chair, no way I was sitting in the big chair if I didn't need to.
"Alright, my name's Dr. Tomlinson but you can call me Louis," he smiled warmly at me. "And you're...ay... ee...". Niall giggled at Louis struggling to pronounce my name. "Aoife, like ee-fa" he corrected him. Louis nodded. "Guessing it's an Irish one then?". Me and Niall both smiled.
Louis looked back to his computer beside him. "So I see all of your paperwork is done, just to confirm no new medications or anything like that?" I shook my head. "Perfect, so you're just here for a check-up and cleaning today, have you got any concerns or problems?". The truth is I did, but I wasn't going to tell them that, I'd probably land myself needing a big needle or something. I shook my head.
"Right so if you just want to have a seat here for me angel we'll get started" Louis said as he pointed towards the dental chair. I bit my lip and sat down on the dreaded chair. Both of the boys wheeled over on their little stools towards me. "I'm just going to lay you back, alright?" said Niall.
My eyes started to fill with tears. I tried to hide it but Louis caught on in an instant. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?" he asked. "I'm just... really nervous.. I'm sorry" I blurted out. Louis softened his gaze. "You don't have to be sorry sweetheart, we're going to take really good care of you and I'm going to be really gentle, okay my love?". I nodded and tried to wipe the tears from my eyes, and took a deep breath as Niall began to lay the chair back.
Niall switched on a light above me and pointed it over my mouth while Louis snapped on a pair of gloves. "Alright angel, whenever you're ready I'll have you open up nice and wide for me hon" Louis said. I took a deep breath and opened a little. Louis gently opened my lips a little more.
He picked up a little mirror and began to look around my mouth. "All I'm doing is having a little look but if you want me to stop at any time just lift this hand up for me darling". After what felt like forever, Louis took his tools out of my mouth. "Everything looks great, all we need to do is a little cleaning and then you'll be on your way". Phew, I didn't have any cavities. I wondered what that toothache I'd been having was if a dentist couldn't see it, but I brushed it off.
Niall began putting a pair of gloves on and pulled out a suction while Louis got a scary looking machine thing. I couldn't help but wince at the sound of him turning it on to check it was working. "Now darling, this is called an ultrasonic scaler. All it does is take the plaque off, I promise you it won't hurt." I nodded, still unsure. "Alright, open for me love". I did as he said.
Louis and Niall approached my mouth with their weird scary tools and began cleaning away. Soon enough it was all over. "Alright, now we just need to give your teeth a polish" Louis said, turning back to the counter where his tools were. "That's the hard part over now" said Niall as he smiled at me.
"Okay, just open for me one more time love, we're almost done" said Louis as he began to polish my teeth while Niall suctioned. Eventually we were done and Louis was putting his things away. I was debating on wether I should ask about my toothache, and finally built up the courage to.
"L-louis?" I murmured. He turned around on his stool to look at me. "I know I should've told you earlier, I'm really sorry... I was just nervous" His warm gaze comforted me. "I have a bit of a toothache.. in the back.. I thought it might be okay since you said everything looked good but it does really hurt...". I was so worried for what he would say, I knew I should've told him earlier.
He gave me another smile "Don't worry about it love, I'll take a look for you". I let out a tiny sigh of relief but the anxiety of him having to look in my mouth again built up. He picked up his little mirror again and tapped on my lips signalling me to open. "Let's have a look then darling" I opened my mouth, almost shaking from nerves. Louis pushed his mirror back into my mouth and started looking. Niall wheeled over to me on his stool. I thought he was going to shove some scary machine into my mouth too but instead he just placed his hand on my shoulder to comfort me.
After a few minutes Louis took his mirror out. "Alright love, so that toothache you're having is just your wisdom teeth coming through in the back there, it's nothing to worry about. I'll put a little bit of gel on it for you and give you some to take home.
Louis said something to Niall and Niall began rooting through some drawers. He eventually passed Louis a tiny green tube. "Open for me sweetheart" Louis said. He put a little bit of the gel onto his gloved finger and rubbed it on the back of my gum. "All done!" he exclaimed afterwards as he sat the chair upright.
Niall handed me one of the little green tubes. "Put this on like Louis did, once in the morning and once at night" he instructed me.
"You're good to go my love" said Louis patting my leg. I smiled at him. "Thank you both, sorry I was a bit of a hassle". Louis stood up from his stool to show me out. "Of course you weren't a hassle darling, you don't have to apologise for being nervous". Louis opened the door for me and I headed out. I guess I'd found my new dentist office!
