Dental Fear

Dental Fear

© 2002 Hal Westhead

[Winner on 'Writer's Online' competition]

Time for another check-up. The appointments came round far too quickly for Lisa's liking. The calendar said they were six months apart. That was not how it felt. Lisa always looked for an excuse to postpone the appointment. Her teeth were not in great shape - too many toffees in her teens and not enough brushing. There was always a little more filling or drilling or capping. It always hurt more than the dentist said it would. Why, she wondered, did they bother lying? She knew it would hurt, he knew it would hurt and soon after he'd reassured her he was proved a liar by the very real pain she felt. Did he think she'd trust him more than the pain?

Lisa looked out of the window. The sky looked very black. They were in for a real storm. Much too wet and dangerous to drive to the surgery. It was only a check-up after all. Next week would do just as well as this.

"Oh come on you wimp. Just do it. If you put if off to next week, you'll have to live through another week of counting down the days." Lisa had decided she was going to turn over a new leaf - be more assertive and strong. This was where she was going to start. She needed to be assertive with herself.

"Just go now, get it over with, and then it will be another six months in which you can just get on with life."

As she got into the car she heard the first distant roll of thunder. She could feel it more than hear it, resonating in her body. The storm was the perfect excuse not to be out on the roads but she was determined to take herself in hand, and she loved driving in thunderstorms. The deep vibrations and the sudden crack of lightening were a real turn on. The prospect of oozing pheromones over Saul as he leaned in close to her quite made up for the torture he would put her through.

It was only about a mile to Saul's practice, but with each passing yard the sky became darker. The black clouds shrouded the nearby hills as though they were belching smoke.

She pulled into his small car park as the first heavy drops of rain started to fall. Each drop hit the car with a distinct metallic clunk, as though she was driving through loose dirt. This was no light shower. Each drop was a small water bomb exploding on her car.

There were no other cars there. This was good news. She'd be able to go straight in to Saul. Sitting around in the waiting room just made her more tense. Opening the car door she prepared to sprint the short distance to the front door. A window rattling boom of thunder met her as she stepped from the car. She took in a deep lungful of the ozone filled air. That's what people said the smell was, but Lisa did not care about the scientific accuracy. To her it was simply the smell of a thunderstorm.

"Hi Lisa, I wasn't expecting you to show up," Clarissa boomed as Lisa crashed into the reception area. Clarissa had been Saul receptionist forever as far as Lisa knew. She knew more about the patients' lives than Saul did. She was also not the most discrete of people. "What with this storm I'd have thought you'd prefer to stay home."

"Hi Clarissa, I've turned over a new leaf. The new Lisa starts here. No more cancelled appointments."

Clarissa looked over the top of her glasses and gave Lisa a sceptical stare. "Whatever you say, Lisa. I'll wait for your next appointment before I say anything." She chuckled and shook her head. Clarissa had been dealing with Lisa's cancellations for too long to be swayed by a few fine words.

"Anyway you can go right in. Saul's free. Mrs. Wallace did cancel her two o'clock."

Lisa went straight into the consulting room and sat down in the dental chair. She'd been going through the routine for long enough not to wait for an invitation to sit down.

"Its good to see you Lisa," Saul said with a warm smile.

Lisa knew that this was not just 'bedside manner': Saul was a wonderfully caring man. However that did not stop him lying to her about how much pain was involved in each treatment. At least that was Lisa's view of things.

"OK. You know the routine. Open wide. Let me see. Mmmm. Ahhh." He poked around a little with a dental probe and moved the lighting gantry around to ensure that there was no crevice or niche in shadow.

"Well that is good. You have been following my advice by the looks of your teeth. You don't need any work done apart from cleaning away a little plaque."

Lisa was astonished. Saul had been fighting a losing war with her dental hygiene for years. This was the first indication that he was making any headway.

"Just sit back and relax. I'll go over your teeth with the brush - and to celebrate I won't even charge you this time."

"So this really isn't going to hurt?"

"This won't hurt a bit."

Saul inserted the cleaning head into the dental drill and started to lean forward towards Lisa.

The thunderclap shook the building as the lightning strike came to earth on the power line and sought to dissipate its energy along every conducting surface it could find. Saul's burnt body was thrown across the room by the blast, his charred hand still holding the drill head.

When the paramedics arrived they tried their best to comfort Lisa.

"It was such a powerful surge of energy, he probably did not feel a thing."

Lisa could never again hear a dentist say "this won't hurt a bit" without bursting into tears.