Lately, I\u2019ve been seeing a lot of pediatric patients. I didn\u2019t ask for it, nor did I manifest it, but somehow, my chair has become a magnet for little humans with big emotions\u2014and even bigger lungs.<\/p>\n
Maybe it’s fate.<\/p>\n
Maybe it\u2019s karma.<\/p>\n
Or maybe I accidentally offended the pediatric gods in a past life\u2014because suddenly, every child in town has ended up in my chair.<\/p>\n
Now, not every kid is a handful. Some smile, open wide, and even say \u201cthank you.\u201d But then there are the others. The ones who start crying the second they step in.<\/p>\n
They walk in, I smile (nicely!), say \u201chello,\u201d<\/strong><\/em> and boom! It\u2019s like I\u2019ve triggered a full-on scream fest.<\/p>\n One little one, tiny and full of energy, looked at me like I was the Grim Reaper. She clung to her mother like I was holding a chainsaw. No tools in hand. Just me in full PPE. Existing.<\/p>\n And then, mid-meltdown, she stopped, took a deep breath, and\u2014mouth open.<\/p>\n A golden moment. A tiny window of opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cNOW. GO. CHART.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n I dove in like I was defusing a bomb. 51, 61, quick glance\u2014charting while chaos unfolded around me. She was crying, but that mouth was open, and I wasn\u2019t wasting it.<\/p>\n I\u2019d throw in the mirror occasionally (barely) and pretend I have microscopic vision. Fluoride applied. Exit with pride.<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t revenge. This is resourcefulness.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n I really wanted to comfort her. I did. But there was a timer ticking, and I was working between gasps, dodging tears, all while trying to chart with one hand and survive emotionally with the other.<\/p>\n Now, simple charting and fluoride are all fine and dandy, but when it’s time for an extraction? That\u2019s when the horror soundtrack starts playing\u2014for both of us.<\/p>\n She\u2019s screaming.<\/p>\n I\u2019m smiling calmly on the outside.<\/p>\n But on the inside?<\/p>\n \u201cI am also screaming, sweet child. We are one.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n I hold the forceps, heart pounding like I\u2019m in some reality show challenge:<\/p>\n \u201cExtract this tooth before the next emotional breakdown\u2014GO.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n She\u2019s thrashing. The nurse is holding her steady. I\u2019m sweating through my gloves.<\/p>\n And in that moment, I start asking myself life\u2019s deeper questions:<\/p>\n \u201cIs this really how I imagined my Tuesday?\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Eventually, the procedure ends. I hand over a sticker. She refuses it. Fine. She stomps off with that siren cry, and I sit back like a gladiator who just survived the Colosseum.I know she left thinking,<\/p>\n \u201cThat dentist was an evil witch who stole my tooth!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n And honestly? Huh. Whatever. I just really, really hope the next patient isn’t pediatric. Please.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lately, I\u2019ve been seeing a lot of pediatric patients. I didn\u2019t ask for it, nor did I manifest it, but somehow, my chair has become a magnet for little humans with big emotions\u2014and even bigger lungs. Maybe it’s fate. Maybe it\u2019s karma. Or maybe I accidentally offended the pediatric gods in a past life\u2014because suddenly, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-talk-dental-practice"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/smilewithdrmel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ChatGPT-Image-Aug-4-2025-at-10_00_16-AM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smilewithdrmel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smilewithdrmel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smilewithdrmel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smilewithdrmel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smilewithdrmel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=330"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/smilewithdrmel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":341,"href":"https:\/\/smilewithdrmel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330\/revisions\/341"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smilewithdrmel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smilewithdrmel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smilewithdrmel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smilewithdrmel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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To all dentists: if you\u2019ve ever completed an entire treatment mid-tantrum, if your mask is soaked in tears (some not yours), or if you’ve questioned your career choices after a screaming 6-year-old\u2014this one\u2019s for you.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"