The Incident

The screams of my mother making me entered the car were driving me crazy. Why did she tell me that we were going to the dentist? I hate them. I should have not eaten the big cherry heart lollipop my sister gave me yesterday. Now I have to get a cavity removed. “Mom, I don’t want to go to that scary dentist, I will never eat candy again!” I said sobbing. “Don’t worry sweetie, it’s just a cavity removal. It won’t hurt.” Mom replied, she always thinks she knows about everything. What can a middle school teacher know about medicine? Well, I think she always wanted to be a dentist. Still, I don’t like how the dentist works in people’s mouths. Maybe, if I can have a mirror to see what the dentist is doing, I would fear them a little bit less. One of the instruments they use, the one that is like a hand drill, is the one I hate the most. You feel like someone is trying to get to the core of your mouth and build a new tooth. A shinny new tooth free from cavities.

Finally I got in the car, nervous as a pig that is going to be slaughter. When we arrived at the dentist office, a little boy, almost my age, was crying holding on gaza strip filled with blood in his mouth. That made me more terrified than I was before. My mom hold my hand, making me feel more secure but that didn’t help. “Andrea, you’re up”, said the secretary. I stood up feeling nauseous, hoping that the dentist was injured or dead. There was she, Dr. Hernandez, with her long blond hair and her beautiful heels. I have always love her shoes, one day I’m going to have a pair just like them. “Hi Andrea, how are you? How’s school doing?” said the dentist. “Good”. “Don’t worry honey, everything is going to be alright. It’s just a bad cavity.”

My legs were trembling and my head was spinning. I didn’t know how was I going to survive this. And there it was, the needle with the anesthesia, resting in the platter. That was my enemy, my fear, the needle going through my gum. Now I was pale, terrified. Her hand took the needle, preparing it to insert it in my mouth. Just to even think about it made me sick. Her hand was entering my mouth, and when I finally felt the needle in my gum, my jaw clenched. I was a Rottweiler strangling his prey. My jaw didn’t let go. I heard a voice, a scream.  My mom responded with embarrassment: “Oh my god, Andrea! I’m sorry dentist, she didn’t meant to do it.” “It’s an accident, no big deal. It’s just a little scratch”, the dentist responded. I was relieved for a moment, now that Dr. Hernandez couldn’t take my cavity out, but guilty too because I bit her hand. Unfortunately for me, I had to return to my nightmare the next day. But that day I sensed that she was more careful than ever.