When I was a kid, I DREADED going to the dentist. I cannot remember his name but I can still see him. He was a sadistic, mean old man who had a mouth full of yellow teeth and reeked of cigarettes. Of course it was the ’70’s. I had to have several cavities in the back filled (with lead; again — the ’70’s) and I swear he took pleasure in not giving me enough novocaine. He asked me to raise my hand if it started to hurt and, later when I did, he leaned in closer with his fetid breath and told me to “stop being a big baby.” I will never forget one tear trickled unwittingly out the side of my left eye and down my cheek. It was the one he could not see but I was still humiliated nonetheless. I was a feminine tomboy and very tough. I do not know why I never told my parents about the awful, horrid man. In those days they could not go back and had to wait up front. Then when it was all over I remember being able to pick out candy while my parents paid the terrible bill. Talk about a perpetuating cycle. Well thankfully times have changed and things have drastically improved. They no longer separate children from their parents and the people honestly like working with little kids. My daughter LIVES to go to the dentist! First, there’s the children’s LEGO area in which she “waits” before they call her back. Everyone is smiling with shiny white teeth and they call her by name. She has been in the “big chair” for the past couple of times and they always praise her for being so good. They truly believe in preventative dentistry so this generation won’t have to endure some of what mine has. The neatest trick in their arsenal is they asked who her favorite princess was and she said Cinderella. So after they polished her tiny choppers they said they’d given her “Cinderella teeth.” My little one just GLOWED! She could not stop smiling! Then yet another kind person with gleaming bright teeth took her to a different “waiting” (play) area while her handsome, gentle dentist asked if I had any concerns. I could barely get her out when it was time to go. She’d scored a pink rubber frog and a balloon with a bear tied to the bottom. And I got to write her name on the “A+” “wall of teeth”! Now I was smiling! I could not help but compare this happy colorful place with the depressing avocado green adult practice of my childhood. I vividly remember the one poster attached to the ceiling depicting a cat hanging from a tree. It read, “Hang in there, it’s almost Friday.”
“There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow up in peace.” ~ Nobel Peace Prize recipient Kofi Annan
We always want better for our children and it makes me so happy that her story will be so different from mine.
