Chronicles of Mr. Nice

i have never encountered any agreeable tutor like him all my life
let's just call him Mr. Nice

heard about him even b4 i came to Southend
ALL positive comments , not even a single word of disapproval
that's how nice Mr. Nice is

see, i have been tipped off
but his utmost niceness still caught me off guard, twice!

Anecdote 1
Last week i had an 8-year-old come in for an extraction
it all went well until i was about to give an injection
the boy turned pale and started crying
we tried every conceivable way to get his coorperation, coaxing,persuading,
bribing, negotiating, assuring and even blackmailing
all our efforts were in vain
the boy was too afraid to open his mouth

looking at his teary face i felt like an evil stepmother
one minute the boy was so full of energy and mischief, chatting about his new lunchbox
the next minute he was curling up in the chair with shivers and tears

i thought
that's it..i give up..this is like child abuse

so i went up to Mr Nice, preparing to admit my lousy child management

'sorry, Dr, i don't think i can do the extraction. He just won't let me touch his teeth."

"yea..he is really frightened, isnt he? It must be difficult for you to calm him down.''Mr. Nice looked at me with sympathy

''..so...hrmm.....should i just ..ermm..book him in next time to do the filling?'' i didn't know how to react when i saw the pity in his eyes

"yea..that's fine"

Oooookay, i didnt see that coming.
That is not what a typical tutor would say when a student messes up
Honestly,a few quick shots actually passed through my mind b4 i reached Mr. Nice and i was geared up for them
A normal tutor would go "Do u mind if i have a go at it?"
A strict tutor would probably say ''Oh come on,fifth year student.Don't tell me you cant handle a kid!'

Anecdote 2
This morning i was told that i only had 80min instead of a full 2 hours for an rct
It was already partially treated by somebody else so all i had to do was obturation
the problem was that one of the canals kept bleeding
After spending almost an hour trying to stop bleeding and it still didnt work
Mr. Nice said '' let's just put in the Master GP and take an x ray"
So i did exactly as he said,put a temporary filling in patient's mouth
the nurses began chasing people away as it was nearly time for health and safety training
so i didnt have the time to write up the notes and view the xray until i sat myself down in the seminar room with the rest of the group

Holy shit!
i couldn't believe my eyes when i saw something jutting out from the tooth on the xray
i was supposed to see 3 Master GPs fit nicely in all 3 root canals
instead, only two GPs were placed rightly while the other one was totally out of the root, leaving one canal empty

my heart was pounding, hand was sweating

PERFORATION!!!

I stared at the blank notes, didnt know what to write and where to start
all i could think of was

Blimey, what have i done??
Perforated a tooth??
That's a nightmare of endodontic!!!
I'm so dead now!
Oh no..wait a minute...dat's not my fault! i didn't do the instrumentation..somebody else did
still..wat am i gonna say to the tutor???
what if he is mad??what if he reports to Mr. S??arghhh!!!

90 minute lunch break felt like 9 second
the next thing i knew, i was back in the clinic, waiting for the best time to face up to Mr. Nice

"It seems like the tooth is perforated.One of the GPs has gone out through the side of the canal....'' my voice died down slowly while waiting for Mr. Nice's response

"Yea.. it does seem like a lateral perforation" Mr. Nice held the x-ray film against the light and looked
"Shame,we won't be able to obturate it then.Well, it is a very tricky tooth to treat, taking into consideration of the limited access" he smiled kindest smile i had ever seen

"i'm just wondering how to break the bad news to the patient"

"Don't worry about it..she is a nice lady. She knows that it's a diffcult treatment and you've done well in getting rid of her pain. The first time she came in she had a lot of pain from that tooth but now you can see it's improved so much..." he continued

"but...she's been coming back and forth so many times for the treatment, only to find out this complication.She must be very upset.''

"She should be fine.We will certainly repair the perforation with GI and let it settle down before obturating it."

I tried to dissect his facial expression and pick up his tone
not even a hint of fury!
Incredible!!


I know i must sound crazy if i say i was really awaiting for a telling off or at least a lecture from him
I guess i have got so used to expecting the worst from tutors,be it harsh remarks or sarcasms, that i literally lose the ability to react when tutor is very nice to me

Getting away scot-free? No way! It is like sun rising from the west
Trust me, if there is only one thing i learn from dental school, that is it!

After all, perforation in endodontics is not as trivial as dropping a probe on the floor

I'm pretty sure things will turn out differently if the same thing is presented to other tutors, probably another long story of how a 0.3mm hole in a root ruined my day off

Having said that,the last thing i would want is to see Mr. Nice throwing a fit
Turning a Mr Nice into a Mr Cranky is...not fun at all