I sat anxiously in the waiting room of my new dentist's office. My old dentist told me I needed a filling, but I had no time to get it done between moving abroad to the UK. After finally settling at uni I decided to book myself in.
"Aoife?" I heard someone call. I looked up from my magazine to see a tall blond guy in scrubs. "You can follow me" he said, smiling. I smiled back at him. I knew an accent from back home anywhere.
He lead me into a small dental surgery. "Have a seat for me," he said, sitting down on a little stool. "My name's Niall, I'm the assistant."
I swung my legs over the big blue chair. "Bold assumption to say you're Irish?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. I nodded my head. "Didn't take you long to realise!" I said smiling. He grabbed a paper bib out. "The name was a giveaway," he said smiling. "Haven't met someone called Aoife in a long time".
The conversation started to distract me from the thought of the filling. "So where are you from?" I asked him. "Mullingar down in Westmeath, you?". He clipped the paper bib around my neck, moving my hair out of the way. "Galway, I've just moved over here to London".
Before we could continue the conversation I heard the door opening behind me, and in walked another guy in scrubs. "Hiya love," he said, sitting down on a stool beside Niall. "I'm Dr. Tomlinson, but you can call me Louis if you want, whatever you prefer".
"And you're... Ay..Ee". Niall and I giggled. "Aoife, ee-fa" Niall said, nudging him. Louis nodded, "That's the one, where's that from then?". "Ireland" I said looking up at him. "Ah right, that makes sense" he said, looking playfully between me and Niall.
Louis wheeled his stool closer to me. "So you're here for a filling today love, yeah?". I nodded. "My dentist back in Ireland said I needed one".
I looked around the room at all of the different terrifying-looking tools as Niall typed away on the computer and Louis reclined the chair back.
"So love, I'm going to have a little look first and then we'll get you numb," Louis explained. "It's perfectly normal to be nervous, but you just let us know if you are and we'll look after you, okay?". I nodded, starting to feel more comfortable.
"Now darling, I just want to take a quick look first," said Louis as he picked up a mirror and explorer. "Open up for me when you're ready". He pushed the mirror to the back of my mouth and started looking around. "Just this little one in the back" he pointed out to Niall.
He took his tools out, and turned around to get the scary-looking needle ready. My eyes started to fill with tears. Niall noticed and he tapped Louis on the shoulder.
Louis turned around. "Hey, hey, love it's okay" he said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "I promise you I'll be gentle". He wiped a tear from my cheek. "Take a few deep breaths and we'll get this over with angel, yeah?". I nodded at him, wiping away my tears.
Niall held out his hand for me to hold it and I smiled at him. "Squeeze my hand as hard as you need to," he said. Louis picked up the needle again. "Open nice and wide for me love". Louis pulled my cheek back with his finger. I shut my eyes and felt the needle scratching my gum. I winced, squeezing Niall's hand tight.
"That's it love, almost done" said Louis as I felt the pain stop and he took the needle out of my mouth. "All finished, that'll take a couple of minutes to kick in so you just take a breather for me darling".
I let go of Niall's hand. "Sorry, didn't mean to squeeze the hand off you". He laughed, "I'm used to it by now". Louis giggled. "Think we might change your name badge to say personal hand holder instead of dental assistant, eh?". Niall rolled his eyes playfully. "Personal hand holder" Niall mocked in Louis' thick British accent.
Louis swung back around to face me on his stool. "Doing okay my love?" he asked softly. I nodded. "My gum feels really weird". "That means it's working," he said, flicking the bright light back on. "The stuff we use to numb you works on adrenaline, so it might feel like you've just had a bit of a fright". That explained why I was so shaky.
"Now angel, all I want you to do for me is keep your mouth open wide and keep taking deep breaths. Let me and Nialler here worry about the rest," Louis explained. "If you want me to stop at any point, lift up this hand for me, okay sweetheart?" I nodded as they both began to prepare their tools.
"It's going to be a little bit loud but I promise you nothing's going to hurt," said Louis. "Whenever you're ready open nice and wide for me darling". I opened reluctantly and they started drilling away.
Eventually, it was all over. "Not so bad, eh?" Louis said flicking the light off as Niall sat the chair back up. "Not so bad" I said.
I swung my legs back over the chair. "Thank you both so much" I said. Louis smiled at me. "Anytime darling, and don't be afraid to come back in if anything's bothering you". I nodded, the thought of coming back in wasn't so bad.
