It was a normal Tuesday morning, when I woke up to get ready for school. The first thing I thought about was my dental appointment that afternoon. It was my first orthodontist appointment to get the right fittings for my braces. I went to school and worried all day about my appointment. I didn’t know what to expect, would it hurt, would I get them on today, what would my buddies say. As the day went on my anxiety level increased as the appointment got closer. The day was coming to a close and I was sitting in class at my desk, when the PA system came on and said “Could Brandon please come to the office his mom is here to pick him up”.
I grabbed my homework off my desk and headed towards the vehicle. I immediately told my mom I was nervous. She said there’s nothing to worry about, they are only doing impressions on your teeth it will be easy. I arrived at the dentist walked in the reception area, sat and waited, worried and waited some more. My appointment was scheduled for 3:00 but I was still in the waiting room at 3:20. I thought to myself maybe they forgot about me! It was about 3:25 when the hygienist called my name; we all followed her into the room.
I sat down and she said Dr. Matheny will be with you in just a moment. I was sitting in that dentist chair with butterflies in my stomach, not knowing what was going to happen. Mom could see from my fidgeting I was nervous and she tried to make me feel more comfortable. That’s when I noticed the big button on the floor beside the dentist chair. I have always liked to push buttons and figure out how things work. My Nana always called me Dennis the Menace because at her house I’d push buttons to see what happened or ask questions of what they did.
I turned sideways in the chair to talk to my mom and my foot was on the ground with my hands on my knees. I was just sitting there when my foot pushed on the big button. The chair started going up really fast. Before I knew it my fingers were caught between the arm of the chair and my leg with my foot still pushing on the button. The chair was still trying to go up pinching my fingers harder and harder. I was stuck I couldn’t get out. My mom ran out of the room yelling for someone to help. Dr. Mathany ran in wondering what was wrong.
It was obvious I was stuck and needed his help to get out. He quickly realized what the problem was and reversed the direction of the chair. When I got my hand out my fingers were bright red with marks on them from being pinched so hard. He said run your hands under some cold water to keep the swelling down. My face was bright red because I was so embarrassed. As the pain went away we all had a good laugh. When we left the office my parents laughed some more and told me that’s a good story for my wedding day.
