Some kids like visiting the dentist. Other kids detest it. It depends on both the dentist and on how well the kids take care of their teeth. Ryan generally liked visiting his dentist, who was very friendly and had TVs mounted to the ceiling above the chairs so he could watch cartoons while the hygienist cleaned his teeth and the dentist poked around his mouth. But his most recent visit gave him reason to reconsider.
The dentist found a problem and said Ryan needed something called a “root canal.” He told Ryan that when he came back for the root canal, the dentist would have to stick a needle into his gums to numb them so it wouldn’t hurt while he worked.
That got Ryan’s attention, and he started to worry.
By the time of his appointment for the procedure, Ryan was fearful. He didn’t want a needle jabbed into his mouth, and he didn’t want the dentist doing something in there that would hurt if he didn’t numb everything correctly. He imagined the worst: needles, hooks, and drills everywhere and the dentist a tentacled monster wielding all of them at once. Ryan declared that he wasn’t going to go through with it. Even his favorite show on TV wouldn’t be good enough.
His mother declared right back that he needed to have the procedure or else there would be much more pain and trouble later.
“I know you’re scared,” Mom said. “But I’ll be right there. I’ll even hold your hand. You won’t be able to see me. But when you’re scared or worried, just squeeze my hand. Would that help?”
Ryan nodded. But he was still nervous.
The dentist got Ryan situated and lying down in the chair, and he carefully used the needle with the anesthesia. It hurt a little bit, but soon Ryan could feel the stuff working. He ran his tongue along that side of his gums. It felt weird. The dentist and an assistant crowded next to Ryan. He couldn’t turn his head to see Mom, but the dentist had said it was okay for her to sit close enough to hold Ryan’s hand.
The TV was on, but Ryan couldn’t think about anything but what would happen if he got feeling back in his mouth while the dentist was still digging in there. He squeezed Mom’s hand, and she squeezed back. Only a minute later, Ryan squeezed again. She squeezed his hand longer this time. Ryan felt better.
And so it went. Whenever Ryan started to worry, he tightened his grip on Mom’s hand for a moment; she returned the gesture, and Ryan’s anxiety would calm. There was one time that it seemed like the dentist had to dig or scrape really hard, and Ryan became fearful again. He gripped Mom’s hand for long moments until the dentist eased off.
Finally, the dentist sat back and removed his mask and glasses. “There you are, my friend!” he said. “We’re all done.”
Ryan’s gums in that part of his mouth were sore for a few days, but it wasn’t too bad. About the time the soreness went away, Mom brought him something flat wrapped in simple paper—a present! His eyes lit up.
“What’s this for?” he asked.
“Just something I wanted to give you,” Mom replied. “Go on, open it!”
He did, of course. Inside the paper was some framed art—an adult’s hand holding a child’s.
“I’d like to put this up in your room,” Mom explained, “and whenever you’re going through a hard time, if I’m not close by, I want you to look at this picture and remember when I was there, holding your hand. Do you think that would help you?”
“Definitely,” said Ryan. “It helped at the dentist’s. It wasn’t so bad when I could squeeze your hand.” He looked at the picture for a while. “Thank you, Mom. This is really great.” Ryan decided that continuing to go to the dentist’s office wouldn’t be so bad.
As he grew up, he did just what Mom said. He kept the picture when he moved away from home. Anytime he struggled with something, when life got hard, Ryan looked at that picture and remembered how it felt when Mom squeezed his hand. In that moment, he felt some peace and hope that things would get better.
Image by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi from Pixabay
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