My Brother, The Dentist

Chapter 21-

I laid there in silence for a while, hands in lap, waiting for Sam to get himself prepared for the second time this appointment. He scattered out the menacing tools on the tray again, positioned the over head light towards my mouth, and snapped on a fresh pair of gloves- excluding the mask this time around, per request. I felt a lot more happy being able to see Sam's facial expressions, it made it seem as if perhaps this appointment wasn't so much of a big deal, just chilling with my big brother. But then I noticed him pick up something that looked fairly familiar, he held it up so I could see.

"For my younger patients, I call this 'Mr. Smiler', but really it's just a mouth prop. I always use a mouth prop when applying people's braces because it's easier to reach the back teeth and also it stops your jaw from aching, having to hold it open the whole time. So would it be okay if I use a mouth prop on you Billy?"

"Isn't that the thing you threatened me with that one time, huh?" I questioned, the traumatic memories returning to my mind.

"Remember Billy, we're over that now" he responded, and I nodded my head approvingly. "So what do you say?"

"Do as you must" I responded, then proceeded to open my mouth without being instructed. Sam seemed to enjoy this independence, nodding his head with satisfaction and inserting the mouth prop. He struggled at first but managed to fit it into place after messing around for a bit.

"You all good?" he queried. I raised a quick thumbs up- not being able to talk- and he responded with a delicate smile. "I need to leave a suction in your mouth to collect all your saliva, it may be a tad noisy though just to warn you." Without being able to speak I nodded my head swiftly, and as a consequence the suction began it's duty. "I'm just going to begin gluing on the brackets now Billy, so if you want me to stop just raise your hand or gently tap me." I didn't respond to this, yet before I knew it Sam had got to work.

I felt slight pressure when Sam pushed and held the brackets onto my teeth, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it to be! Everytime he needed to cure the glue, he covered my eyes for me so I had to do practically nothing at all. Everytime he scraped off the excess glue with a sharp tool, the sound of it against my teeth caused me to shiver. After the last bracket had been glued on and cured, Sam removed the prop from my mouth and sat the chair up, moving the overhead light as he did so.

"How does that feel?" he asked me, as he sorted out his tray.

"They feel kind of rough, but there's no pain? I don't understand?"

"That's because there's no wire on them yet. The wire is what activates the braces and actually moves your teeth. But it's your job now to pick the colours you want!" He seemed overly excited for me. He placed a chart of colours into my hands, and took a seat next to me curious about my choice.

"I have no idea Sam, what do you think?" I asked, passing the chart over to him.

"Hmmm..." he thought, staring deeply at my chubby cheeks. "Well obviously it's your opinion, but I think blue would be nice? But you can change the colours everytime you get them tightened if you so desire. Or you could choose more than one colour, the choice is yours" he grinned, passing the chart back to me as if it was a hot potato.

After minutes of evaluating my choices, I came to my final conclusion. "Sam, could I have black and light blue?"

"An excellent choice!" he chuckled, lowering the seat back down which took me by surprise. He collected the colours I'd chosen, then returned back to his station to contiue the procedure. I noticed the new tools that had been laid out on the tray and became slightly tense again.

"Sam?" I began.

"Yes Billy?" he smiled.

"These new tools look scary, what are they?" I asked disheartened.

"They're honestly not that scary Billy, don't worry. I just use them to wrap the coloured bands around your brackets so the wire stays in place, that's all" he answered, rubbing my shoulder before once again positioning the light.

"Do I not need the mouth prop any more then?" I asked, hoping for a solumn 'no', and lucky for me my hopes came true!

"Final stretch now Billy, then we can go home and chill."

Sam measured up the wire and began fitting both the top and bottom into place. This felt slightly uncomfortable as the wire kept poking me in the gums and lips, my lip even started bleeding at one point (but I guess that's what comes with never wearing lip balm!) It was a struggle for Sam fitting the wire on my back teeth; but after much pain and anguish, my braces were finally fitted!

I sat up in the chair and Sam handed me a mirror to check out my new smile for the first time ever. I slowly smiled in the mirror and was shocked with surprise, I didn't look too bad!

"They actually look alright I guess" I murmured to Sam, as I finally rushed to get out of the dreaded chair.

"Yeah they suit you" he smiled, whilst packing up the room. "I'm so proud of you Billy, you did an excellent job."

"Yeah it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be really. Sorry for the inconvenience Sam."

"Don't worry about it Billy, we got there didn't we and that's what matters."

"I just don't understand how you're a dentist who specialises in children though Sam" I began, "you're so rough."

"I just do my job" He responded bluntly. "Do you wanna wait in the waiting room while I finish cleaning up? I'll be out in a few moments."

"Sure thing" I returned, but walking out of the room, I realised I'd never explored my brother's dental office (since the tramatic last check up was the first time I'd ever visited.) So I found myself looking around. It was a small building, with a waiting room and small reception desk, which led onto a short corridor in which a few rooms could be located. There were three check up rooms, two which consisted of normal dentist chairs and cuboards (the usual sort of thing), and the other a very colourful room where it seemed very young children had their checkups. Other rooms included a small office with a sign on the door that read 'Dr. Chespin's Office' (my brother), an x ray room, a play room, a toilet and a supply cupboard. I didn't want to dawdle too long so I took a seat outside in the waiting room and pulled up the camera on my phone. I began checking out my braces from front to back, they were actually quite interesting! Sam walked out with his brown leather satchel and noticed my curiosity.

"You like them then?" he grinned, showing off his chompers. I jumped at his presence, pocketed my phone then walked over to him rubbing my cheeks.

"They're alright, but my mouth really hurts" I groaned, burrying my head into his chest.

"They'll feel better soon buddy, i'll give you some medicine later if you want?"

"Fanks" I mumbled into his chest.

"He pulled me out from his personal space and began rolling up my upper lips looking at my braces.

"What are you doing?" I questioned in a somewhat disguted tone, "you've just been looking at my teeth for the past hour."

"I just think they look cute on you" he teased. I rolled my eyes at his gestures.

"Does anyone else work here with you, Sam?" I questioned, not knowing much about my brother's place of work.

"I have a receptionist but she only works two days a week. Hopefully it will be more soon. And someone called Adam, who I'm helping to train. He often comes in to help me out. Other than that, I do all the work. Why?"

"I'm just curious" I meekly smiled.

"Fair enough. Come on then, let's get home." He gently grabbed me around the shoulders and led me out to the car, locking up the office as we left.