A Little Known Benefit of Novacane
Yesterday I had to take Boy #3 to the dentist in the hopes of getting at least one of his three cavities filled. It was his first time with a cavity, and only his third time at the dentist period. Needless to say, we weren’t sure how well it would go.
Our dentist (and if you’re in the Ankeny area, I highly recommend Dr. Karbacka–he rocks!) was so good about not making it such an unpleasant experience that we’d have to drag Boy #3 back the next time, kicking and screaming. He explained that he would first try the gas to get Boy #3 let them work on his mouth. He didn’t want to have to go the route of the Novacane shot, but that would be next.
After a few minutes of sitting in the waiting room listening for screams of terror coming from the exam roomkicking back with a People magazine, Dr. K came out to let me know that the gas was a big FAIL and that they’d given him the Novacane. He’d try to get in there and fill at least one of his teeth.
After a few more minutes of straining my neck to see if I could catch a glimpse of Boy #3 and biting my nails hoping he was handling himself well playing a few rounds of Scramble 2 on my iPhone, Dr. K came back out with a defeated look on his face.
“I’m sorry. We couldn’t get anything done,” he said. I felt worse for him than Boy #3, he looked so disappointed! He told me that Boy #3 was still kind of squirmy and that he just didn’t want to push it and make it a horrible experience for him. (Seriously, how great is that? I sooo appreciated it!) He told me that he went to school with a pediatric dentist in town, and he’d call him on Monday and schedule an appointment for Boy #3 with him, who he thought would have better luck.
He also let me know that Boy #3’s mouth would be numb for at least a few hours and that I should make sure that he didn’t bite his lip or pull on it and hurt himself as he would be curious about not having feeling in it. And then out came Boy #3, looking like a trooper with a slightly droopy mouth.
After we thanked Dr. K and his assistant, we headed out to the van. Boy #3 was anxious to talk about his newly numb mouth. And I kid you not—this is what he said:
“Mom, it’s hard for me to say some words. I can say ‘where’ easily. But I can’t say the letter ‘f’ very well.”
“Yes, I know,” I told him, thinking this was a great opportunity to teach phonics and the proper pronunciation of words. But just as I was planning the lesson in my head, Boy #3 hit me with this:
“But, Mom, you want to know the good thing? I won’t be able to say the ‘f’ word now! If I did, it would just sound kind of like ‘wuck.’ “
“Uh, yes, that is a good thing, isn’t it?” I stammered after recovering from a moment of initial shock.
Brilliant comeback it wasn’t.
But now I’m wondering if I can keep a stock of Novacane on hand. Might be more effective than trying to wash their mouth out with soap.
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Oh man, that is great. I love it. Of course he would think of THAT word.
WHAT THE WUCK????????
That is hilarious!
Here's hoping Dr. K's colleague has better luck with my #2 and her 8 teeth that must be sacrificed!