Casey sat in a big chair that went up.
Not fast. Slow and smooth, like a ride that hums. Casey's feet lifted off the floor, and the ceiling got closer, and the chair stopped with a soft clunk.
"That's your throne for today," said Dr. Rami. She had a mask around her chin and glasses that made her eyes look very big.
Casey held onto the armrests.
The room smelled like mint. Not candy mint. Clean mint. There was a window with a picture of a whale on it, and a light above — round and bright like a little sun.
Dr. Rami swung the light closer. "I'm going to turn this on now, okay?"
Click.
The light was so bright that Casey squinted. Everything else disappeared. Just warm white light and Dr. Rami's big-big eyes behind those glasses.
"Open wide for me?"
Casey opened. Just a little.
"Wider, like a hippo yawn."
Casey opened wider. That was sort of funny. A hippo yawn.
Dr. Rami put a tiny mirror on a stick inside Casey's mouth. It felt cold. Cold and smooth, like a little spoon that had been in the fridge.
"I'm just counting your teeth," said Dr. Rami. "You've got a lot of good ones in here."
The mirror tapped gently. Tap. Tap. Tap. Each tooth getting a visit. Casey could hear Dr. Rami whispering numbers to her helper, Luis, who sat on a stool and wrote things down.
"Seventeen… eighteen… looking good, Casey."
Then came the part Casey had been thinking about all morning.
The cleaning.
Luis handed Dr. Rami a tool that buzzed. It was small and blue and it buzzed like a bee stuck in a jar.
"This is my tooth polisher," said Dr. Rami. "It tickles a little. It doesn't hurt. Ready?"
Casey grabbed the armrests tighter.
The polisher touched one tooth and — bzzzzzzz — Casey's whole mouth vibrated. It felt fizzy. Like bubbles on a tooth. Casey's eyes went wide.
It didn't hurt.
It was just… weird.
Dr. Rami moved to the next tooth. Bzzzzz. And the next. Bzzzzz. The paste tasted like strawberries, and it was gritty, like wet sand, and Casey wanted to swallow but Dr. Rami said, "Almost done, you're doing great, just hold on."
Casey held on.
Then Luis brought over a little hose that slurped. It went in the corner of Casey's mouth and — shlurrrrp — sucked all the gritty strawberry stuff away. Casey laughed with their mouth still open, which sounded like "AH HA HA" and made Luis laugh too.
"All done with the polishing," said Dr. Rami. She put the buzzy tool down.
She held up that tiny mirror one more time. "Want to see?"
Casey looked.
Every single tooth was shiny. Not just regular shiny. Bright shiny. Like they had been scrubbed by very small fairies with very small rags.
Casey ran their tongue along the front ones. Smooth. So smooth. Smoother than anything. Casey kept running their tongue back and forth because it felt that good.
Dr. Rami pressed a button and the chair went down. Slow and smooth again. Casey's feet touched the floor.
"You did it," said Dr. Rami. She held out a little treasure chest — a real one, wooden, with a tiny gold latch.
Casey opened it.
Inside were toy rings and stickers and a green bouncy ball. Casey picked the bouncy ball. They squeezed it hard.
Out in the parking lot, the sun was warm. Casey bounced the green ball once on the sidewalk. It flew up high — way higher than Casey expected — and Casey laughed and chased it across the bright, bright morning, running their tongue along those smooth, clean teeth the whole way home.
