A visit to the dentist!

Sounds familiar, isn’t it, especially to all my teacher friends! A writing prompt for kids, a favourite topic of the teachers! So many times have I read this composition and year after year, they grow impossibly difficult, painful and traumatic. I have often wondered if there is any other way out for kids and have asked myself if parents really have to subject these little children to the tongs and hammer of the dentist.

I have been fortunate in the sense that I never had to visit a dentist for any serious condition, as a kid or even when I was younger. So I have really never faced this  harrowing experience. Well recently, during a general check up, my dentist suggested an invasive treatment. After having confirmed that there was no other way, or rather it was the best treatment he could offer, I returned, to have the procedure done the next day. My dentist, did, however ask me whether I was not mentally prepared to have it done that very day. If I wasn’t , I was not ready to admit it. I had gone directly to the clinic after my work hours, I needed some rest and of course I was craving for some food! So the next day, I went prepared, both physically, and mentally!

Like so many things, I think the picture of the dentist as a plumber, a mechanic, and a blacksmith, all rolled into one, as depicted by my little students, was a complete exaggeration if not an untruth!  I had to look for other reasons why children continued to keep that horrendous picture alive. The anesthetic needle was so flimsy that I hardly felt the prick. I got a bridge to support my jaws so that my mouth remained open automatically, I did not have to painfully keep it open. All other activities, my dentist carried out gently, and except for the harsh bright glare of the light and the water jet inside my mouth, I could have fallen asleep. I suspect I did so, once in a while!

Now, back to the kids. I imagine it must have been difficult for the kids to be restrained for over an hour in this fashion and the worst part….your mouth is open but you cannot speak……... Surely, only the dentist can inflict this kind of torture!