I had an autistic kid in the clinic the other day for a filling. He was pretty functional, but obviously had some social maladjustments. He had had some bad dental experiences before, but we had a good time. It's kids like these that I went into pediatric dentistry for. He did really well for the appointment, and we had some funny conversations.
Kid: Out of nowhere, "I HAVE 97 VIDEO GAMES!"
Me: "Woah! do you have time to play them all?"
Kid: with incredulous look on his face. "Of course!'
Me: Against my better judgement. "Can you name them all?"
Kid: starts rambling of games, gets to about 15 before I cut him off.
Me: "Wow, that's awesome...ok open wide!"
After the filling is done, I'm talking to his mom and he reads my name tag.
Kid: ROBERT...ROBERT....ROBERT! He says to the assistant, "He doesn't look like a Robert."
Assistant: What do you think his name should be?"
Kid: after thinking for a second..."lovey...wait...lovable...wait...soft and cuddly."
Me: "WHAT?!? Don't you mean Dr. McAwesome? or Dr. VonCool?"
Kid: " ...no, soft and cuddly."
I can't imitate his voice via typing, and it adds quite a bit to the story, but it was still funny. I'm glad the kid had a good time, and the assistant is now holding this information over my head in the clinic. In my defense, I am totally rock hard and chiseled all over. But if he comes back and has a good dental experience, he can call me whatever the heck he wants.
I love my job, because even though there are a few screaming kids, I get to have conversations like this every day. I come home pretty happy, and look forward to going back every day. I love these troubled kids, their parents (and hopefully the kids) really appreciate the effort we put in to give them a good experience. I know you probably all want me to give you a filling with my tickle brush instead of a drill, but it's an age limiting specialty, so unless you are under 18, you're just going to have to deal with a sub par dental experience.
9 months ago
5 comments:
For so long I have been trying to think of the perfect "office theme" for when you strike out on your own...now we have it!!!!!! Come visit Dr. Soft and Cuddly! I'm seeing a whole teddy bear theme, lots of fake fur, pillows, wall murals, little bear lamps...the ideas are flowing, baby!
Oh, Dad says he needs a hug...
as long as I have a sweet A/C system I could wear a teddy bear costume!
(that could be an infection control nightmare...plus demeaning)
Do you think you could get all of your staff to use baby talk? That would be great. "Pwease sit down in our comfy womfy chair, while we go over your widdle medical history with your mommy wommy." Hmmmm, that could be a little time consuming having to repeat half the nouns and verbs in every sentence. Otherwise, not annoying at all.
My staff will do whatever the heck I tell them to do. If I want them to speak in pig latin, they're gonna! I rule with an Iron Fist in my office, contrary to the soft and soft and cuddly teddy bear outfit I'll be wearing.
I am really, really good at Pig Latin.
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