Floss religiously

My first patient

Nobody likes to go to the dentist. I've always hated going to the dentist. Almost anybody who's been to the dentist has a horror story about it. Quite frankly dental visits aren't any fun. Banks are boring too, but at least they give out suckers. Dentists only give away lousy toothbrushes. For most people, going to the dentist is like

Well, in order to read what other people have to say, I did a google search for "going to the dentist is like..."

Windows update It's tedious and sometimes painful, but those that avoid going today because they feel fine end up going through a more painful and expensive process down the road.

Dying and going to the really boring Christain version of heaven. Frankly, it's terrifying. (Josh's note: I don't really know what that means...)

Joining a cult. At first, your will is broken with stern lectures on "neglect" and vague threats of "surgery." And only after you're made pliant with repentance can you be built back up, reborn as a better, more obedient, rigorously flossing convert. I think the chair is part of it. You're restrained, drugged and threatened with injury, which makes anyone more susceptible to programming.

Going to a very bad show: It does not relax you, you get to see nothing, the sound is terrible, you rarely get good news, and to make the whole thing complete, you get to pay too much

Paying for car insurance, is like being processed on a conveyor belt, is like getting a haircut in your mouth etc etc etc.

And all of those describe what it's like going to a dentist who knows what he's doing. I can't imagine what my poor patient had rushing through his head. For the first time in my life, the table was turned. I got to be the object of fear--an inexperienced object of fear at that.

In all honesty, my patient had every reason in the world to be horrified. I didn't have the heart to admit this little fact. He asked. I embellished. The truth is, I've poked around on some of my classmates--3 of them actually, but I never touched a real life patient who had some use for my "services." Quite frankly, if he couldn't see through my averted eyes, shaky hands, and poorly improvised confidence, then I deserved to get away with my little white lie.

So here's to my first patient. A bad day for some random guy. A great day for me. It only goes up from here. But hey, somebody had to start somewhere.