Jean sits down in my chair for her 6 month exam/eval. I review her medical history, the updated radiographs, and ask if she has any chief complaints. This is the first time I’m seeing Jean and as I’m about to complete the Head and Neck exam I see her wince and pure fear on her face. I stop immediately. Try to calm her nerves, ask her about her phobia, explain it’s okay and extremely common, and see if there’s anything I can do to alleviate it. It seems like Jean is back on board so I move forward.
Despite having to employ some serious positive reinforcement, Tell-Show-Do, and for the first time since peds in third year contemplate what Frankl Classification I’d give her, we get through the exam. I tell her all looks good, review some OHI, and ask if she has any questions. Jean, VERY SERIOUSLY, says, “Yes. Don’t you think it would be a whole lot easier if we just pull all my teeth to avoid this in the future?” I nearly fell off my chair. I wanted to be like, “Girl you were scared of my hand mirror but want to do a full mouth of exos?!?!” But instead I smiled, told Jean that was certainly not necessary, and as long as she maintains good OHI she shouldn’t need to worry about major dental treatment.
