I was in 2nd grade, and long story short, I had a gap in my teeth. This wasn’t just any gap. It was humongous. But it never really mattered to me. I was used to it, and I’m pretty sure everyone else was, too, although nobody knew why it was there. My parents always assumed it was because I…well I sucked my thumb. Yeah, I was a late thumb sucker, but the dentist never knew why I had it either. He just assumed the same thing. But everything changed one day when I went for my dental check-up.

During my appointment, they took x-rays of my teeth. They noticed something strange, so they took me to this weird machine. They told me it was going to take an x-ray type thing on the whole front of my face. I was a little confused and slightly scared, but I did it. I was relieved to find out that it was painless, but when the results came back, that very same feeling of relief vanished.

It turns out, I had an extra tooth in my gums. It wasn’t like an adult tooth that was in there, but it was a 3rd front tooth. That’s what was making the gap in my teeth. My mom asked if they could take it out, but they said it wasn’t that easy. They said that I would have to go to a specialist and get it removed. I was curious as to why I would need to go to a specialist to pull my tooth out. It scared me a little, the thought of getting my tooth yanked out by a stranger, but I decided I would take it like a man. After all, I was 7 now, and I had to start acting like it. We scheduled an appointment to get it removed a few days later.

So… fast forward a couple of days later. I get to leave school early because of this, so I’m pretty pumped. My mom picks me up and we’re in the car. Although I’m manly, I’m still a little… curious. I ask her, “Mom, will it hurt when he pulls my tooth out?”

I wait for a couple seconds, and then she replies, “Sweetie, I don’t know how to tell you this, but they can’t just pull your tooth out. You see, hun, they’re going to have to give you a shot of something called novacaine in your gums to make you not hurt when they… um… when they cut your gums open and remove the tooth.”

WHAT!!!!!! WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT CUTTING MY GUMS OPEN?!?!?!? AND WHAT’S THIS ABOUT NOVACAINE????? WHAT IS THAT? IT SOUNDS TERRIFYING!!!!

Aiden, calm down. Get a hold of yourself. You’re 7 years old now, and you’re almost 8 years old, so you have to start acting like a big man if you want people to take you seriously. So take this like a man. Okay, we’re pulling up to the building. It says some weird words on it. Orthodontist. Hmmm… I’m not scared… pshhh. I’m not scared at all. As a matter of fact, I’m going to be super duper brave! Let’s go right now!

So I’m sitting in the waiting room, and everything is going okay, although this is quite the strange place. Everything is white, and I’m feel like I’m in some futuristic room. But I’m being very very manly!

(10 minutes later)
Nurse: “Aiden Sweeney!”

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! HE’S GOING TO CUT ME OPEN AND I’M GOING TO GUSH BLOOD AND PASS OUT AND DIE!!!! Mom! You can’t let a mean man do this to me!!!! Please, let’s just go home and everything can be okay

No, stop. I need to be a man. Like I said before, I’ll be eight soon. I need to start acting like it.

So I decide to be brave, but that doesn’t mean I’m not scared. I walk into the office, and I see all of these tools. I’m very frightened now. I can only imagine what kind of horrible things they do with these. I’m waiting in the room. I told my mom not to come in with me, because I was going to be a man about it, but she insisted… so I didn’t argue.

We’re sitting in the room for a little bit, then the doctor comes in. His name is Dr. Hansen. He talks to me about my day, and if I have any plans for the weekend. I tell him I’m going to my friends house to play. He seems nice, but I know what is about to come…





To Be Continued…
Maybe