But the experience that awaited her when she arrived was not as frightening as she had thought.

“I will show you my beautiful and shiny dental instruments. Here’s a small mouth mirror that allows me to see your teeth from the inside. This powered hand-piece, which makes a disturbing noise, is what I use to rinse the tooth, and this one sucks the water out.”

At the end of the check-up, the dentist opened a drawer full of toys and allowed the little girl to pick the one she liked for having been such a good girl.

At the Dentist is a story aimed at helping children to overcome their fear of dentists. The book, authored by Myrna Fouad Chebbani and illustrated by Dania Al-Khatib was published in 2013 by Dar al-Fikr al-Loubnani.

What is remarkable about this story is that the child is nameless, thus allowing each reader to be the hero.