The Tooth Whisperer

I am TERRIFIED of dentists. Terrified. The reason is clear – my first ever visit to a dentist, at age five, ended with me being held down in the chair by my grandmother AND the assistant, kicking and screaming while they drilled the living daylights out of my teeth. I’m serious. I checked. No. Living. Daylights. Left.

Henceforth (damn I love that word) I have never set foot in a dentists’ chair without trembling, stiffening up and trying to hypnotise myself into another dimension. Bottom line: it haunts me.

Which is why I really wanted Ella’s first dental experience to be pleasant, so she could avoid my fate. Unfortunately, twas not to be. (Note to all parents of babies out there – when they tell you not to let your child fall asleep on the bottle, seriously heed that. It will save you forking out both money and emotion.) Her first visit was going swimmingly, then they decided to give her root canal. Yes. Root canal. On her FIRST VISIT. To cut a long – and painful – story short, Little Miss was not only displeased, but refused to set foot in a dentists’ chair again.

Which is how we found ourselves referred to a children’s specialist in Calgary. Now, I was not thrilled by any of this, the pain of having to drive two hours each way just for a dentist appointment, the promise of having to fork out half of my savings no doubt, for the privilege of a ‘specialist’, without any guarantee that the kid would even walk through the door.

To cut a long – and happily painless – story short, it was worth every minute, penny and worry. This woman is a GENIUS. I love her. No, seriously. LOVE HER. If I ever release an album/produce a DVD/win an Oscar, she’s going to be in the thank-yous. Yesterday Ella had to have a tooth extracted (yes, yes, let’s not even talk about how crapola I feel about that even having to happen, believe me I’ve force-fed myself Marmite for the past week as penance) and not only did she not even shed a single tear, but afterwards told me “I LOVE the dentist! I can’t wait to go again!”

Un. Believable.

Did I mention I love that dentist? Seriously. I’m not just throwing words around here. It’s the real thing.