Caity's POV
Hi, my name is Caity. Today I have a dentist appointment and I'm really nervous because I've had a really bad toothache for awhile now. I'm scared that my dad (Dan) will get mad at me for keeping this from him. He has also been really protective over me. After all, it's just the two of us. My mom left us a few months ago after my dad came out as bisexual. It's been pretty tough without her, but we're getting by. Anyways, Dad and I are currently in the waiting room of the dentist. I'm trying my best to keep my cool, but all this waiting is really anxiety inducing for me.
The dentist assistant finally calls my name and dad and I walk back to where the offices are. She leads me into a small room and tells me to sit down in the chair. I reluctantly walk over to the chair and sit down. My dad places himself in one of those plastic chairs in the corner and quietly reads his magazine. The dental assistant begins to prepare me for the appointment. She gently placed a purple bib across my chest to protect my clothes and put on a pair of blue gloves. Dr. Lester, my dentist, walks into the room and takes a seat on his stool. I saw my dad look up before quickly putting his attention back to his magazine. I giggle softly as he did a double take. My dad had never seen Dr. Lester before as my mom used to take me to all my dentist appointments. I think he might be into Dr. Lester. It would be a bit weird if my dad dated or married my dentist, but whatever makes him happy. Dr. Lester leans the chair back and turns the light on.
"Can you open up nice and big for me?" Dr. Lester asked softly as a few tools hovered above my lips.
I complied and parted my lips. Dr. Lester began scraping and examining my teeth. He got closer and closer to the tooth that's been bothering me and I gripped the armrests so tight that my knuckles became white.
"Relax a bit, love," the assistant said.
"Crap, I thought I was keeping my cool," I thought.
As soon as that crossed my mind, I extreme pain throughout my whole mouth. Dr. Lester had reached my sore tooth. He went to tap the tooth again, but I interrupted him with screams of protest and pain.
"Please stop," I wailed.
"Was that painful?" Dr. Lester asked concern flooding his pale face.
I nodded slowly and sheepishly.
"It's okay, Caity. I'm going to take some X-rays to see what's going on, okay?"
I nodded again and Dr. Lester placed some X-ray films in my mouth. He then asked my dad and Sarah to leave the room, so they didn't get harmed by the X-rays as he placed a lead smock on me so I didn't get harmed either.
"These will be quick, and they won't hurt a bit, okay?" Dr. Lester said. It was almost as if he could read my mind.
Once again I nodded and watched carefully as Dr. Lester brought the x-ray machine near my mouth. The X-rays were over quickly and before I knew it, they were up on the computer. Dr. Lester showed my dad and me that the pain was being caused by a big cavity.
"As you can see, you have a pretty big cavity in you lower left molar," Dr. Lester said as he pointed to my x-ray. "The decay has reached the roots of the tooth, so we can either perform a root canal or just pull the tooth."
"Can't I just get a normal filling?" I pled.
"I'm afraid not, sweetheart," he said compassionately. "I'll let you two talk about your preferred treatment option. Since Caity's only 15, I would recommend just pulling the tooth. A root canal procedure can be a lot for an adult to handle, never the less someone Caity's age. The decay has also reached most of the tooth and a root canal might end up infected in the future and need to be pulled anyway. It's up to you though."
