I do not like shots. I don’t faint while getting them, but I turn into a nervous wreck. I also have a lowered pain tolerance, which doesn’t help matters.

I have to get a cavity filled. The first time this happened, I was knocked out since, as I said, I hate needles. Between that filling and this one, my periodontist pulled my last three baby teeth. He’s really good at what he does, so it didn’t hurt. Because of that, I decide to go with the novocaine shot.

I am told beforehand by my parents and other people that there’ll be pressure. I don’t expect much out of it. But I am still a nervous wreck when the day arrives. My dentist knows this and genuinely reassures me.

I shut my eyes. They warn me before the needle goes in, and when it does, I start screaming my head off. I’m not crying, just screaming from unexpected pain probably heightened by nerves.

Someone wordlessly squeezes my hand until I calm down. The rest of the procedure goes without incident, though I am on edge the whole time. I apologize to the dentist and hygienists afterward for screaming.

Dentist & Hygienists: “Don’t worry about it.”

Then, this exchange happens afterward.

Me: “Mom, did you come back and hold my hand?”

Mom: “No? Dad and I heard you screaming, but we didn’t come back.”

It was at that moment that I realized one of the hygienists held my hand. So, nameless hygienist, thank you so much for helping me.

This story is part of our Feel Good roundup for December 2020!

Read the next Feel Good roundup for December 2020 story!

Read the Feel Good roundup for December 2020!

When I am a teen with braces, I have some problems with the brackets popping off fairly often — sometimes even when I’m not eating or doing anything with my teeth at the time. After yet another time of one of my brackets popping off for no reason, I am once again at the dentist getting it fixed.

The hygienist scolds me pretty strongly, even though I told her it popped off when I wasn’t eating anything.

Hygienist: “You need to be more careful! You’ll have to wear braces for even longer if you keep this up. You need to be much more careful about what you eat.”

Then, the dentist checks my teeth and tells me they are ahead of schedule and I might be able to have my braces off early.

When we are about to leave the dentist’s office, my mom has to use the restroom, so I wait for her by the front door. I haven’t even made it out of the dentist’s office, and I haven’t put anything in my mouth, and a bracket pops off.

As soon as my mom gets out of the restroom, we turn right around and walk back to the dentist’s reception desk… only to find that the dentist has just left for lunch. We have to make an appointment for later in the day.

But at least they stopped blaming me for the problem, and they started being more careful to attach the brackets thoroughly.

To make a long story short, due to the health crisis, I end up needing to get my six-month cleaning done at a dentist I’ve never been to before. As expected, a ton of precautions are in place: waiting outside, wearing a mask until they actually start working inside your mouth, the employees wearing extra protection, etc.

I get checked in, x-rayed, and seated in the chair just fine. Among the equipment in the room is a long metal arm with joints for maneuvering and a cone at the end. When the hygienist pulls the arm around and positions the cone a few inches away from my face; I assume it’s a light.

However, before the hygienist turns it on, she explains that it’s a “suction device” to prevent germs from escaping. Nice precaution, but as soon as she says “suction,” I can feel my eyes bug out because, knowing that’s its purpose, the shape suddenly looks VERY familiar.

Me: “What?! But… it looks exactly like the Scream Extractor from Monsters, Inc.!”

Hygienist: *Laughing* “Yeah, a lot of people have been saying that. I never saw that movie, so I didn’t get it, but I just watched it a few days ago and went, ‘Oh, my gosh, yeah. We have the Scream Machine.’”

So, I had my cleaning done with a loud vacuum running a few inches from my face, and I left very grateful that they had seen me and with a hilarious story to text to the siblings.

Six months after I have a tooth break at the outset of the global health crisis, I am finally able to get to a dentist.

It is a new dentist for me because I wasn’t impressed with my previous one. As such, I go on their website and find that you can make an account, set your own appointment, and fill out all the paperwork necessary before you even set foot in the building. It is all very easy and simple.

The morning of my appointment, I arrive at nine am, check in, and am able to find a seat in the full waiting room. They have spaced the chairs to allow for social distancing.

As I settle in, figuring it’ll be a few minutes before I’m called back, I notice the man who walked in before me is still standing at the reception desk, acting frustrated and annoyed.

Receptionist: “We can fit you in, but as you can see, we’re full today.”

Frustrated Patient: “You guys have my tooth. I already had to come here to get it fixed. It’s an implant.”

A few minutes pass with him pacing in front of the desk.

Receptionist: “We’re doing everything we can, but it’s kind of difficult when you show up for your appointment eight hours early. We can’t help that.”

Frustrated Patient: “I’m moving 2,000 miles away, leaving at noon. Why would I make an appointment for five pm?”

At this point, I’m hearing another voice from the reception desk, as well.

Dental Assistant: “Sir, you changed that appointment fifteen times.”

Frustrated Patient: “No, you guys must have changed it. Why would I make it for five pm if I’m going to be moving at noon?”

Another minute passes with him stalking back and forth.

Frustrated Patient: “All I want is for you to give me my tooth, and I’ll get it put in by someone else.”

Dental Assistant: “Okay, but you still owe an amount on that tooth and the previous appointment. Do you want to pay it now or do you want us to bill you?”

Frustrated Patient: “Send the bill to me.”

Dental Assistant: “Address?”

He then spits out an address in Colorado — we’re in Pennsylvania — and abruptly leaves. The office workers then all look incredulously at each other, shaking their heads, while I’m halfway laughing behind my mask at his antics.

Another assistant comes out and says my name, and I get ready to go into the office. While I’m passing the reception desk, one of the assistants there says:

Dental Assistant: “You know, we still have his tooth.”

I’m running a couple of minutes late for my 7:00 am dentist appointment. I hate getting up early and am no good at it, but my commute is about an hour so it’s the only way to have no significant hours off from work.

As I head for the dentist’s front door, my phone starts ringing. I dig it out of my pocket and see that the display says, “Dentist,” but after two rings total, before I can answer, it stops.

It’s a bit odd, but I walk in and see nobody at the reception to announce my arrival, so I just take a seat.

After five or ten minutes, I see my regular dentist walk in. I figure they must have called me that he was late, considering that I had the earliest appointment possible.

After about twenty more minutes of waiting, a receptionist or assistant finally walks into the lobby and has some discussion with another patient. After they finish, I decide to ask her when the dentist will see me.

Assistant: “Oh, you were late and the dentist has just started treating the next patient.”

Me: “I see. Can I go in after this patient since I only need a checkup?”

Assistant: “No, we’re swamped for the morning and the current patient is in for a big treatment, it will take at least ninety minutes.”

Me: “Well, that’s inconvenient. But I was only two minutes late and there was nobody here to check me in.”

Assistant: “Oh, yes, we did call you.”

Me: “Yeah, my phone rang twice. Then it stopped and I walked in here.”

Assistant: “Ah, yes, there’s an issue with the phones here; sometimes they just randomly drop the call.”

Me: “Right, so I didn’t have any chance to answer your call, which you knew dropped because of a technical issue on your side. I couldn’t check in when I walked in right after, and in the nearly half-hour I was sitting here, nobody checked the lobby or tried another call.”

Assistant: “Correct. Would you like to reschedule for 4:00 pm today or some other day?”

And that’s how I learned to be fifteen minutes early for dentist appointments.