A Visit to the Dentist

Toothache is never a pleasant thing and when I was a young girl in about 1920 I was scared of going to the dentist.

Once when I was suffering very badly from toothache, my friend took me to Dickie's. I would have gone anywhere. When we knocked at the door it was opened by an old lady. She had a strong Scottish accent. She took us to her front room where there were several more young women. When my turn came round I was taken to the kitchen where there was a stone sink with a bowl inside.

Dickie was standing there. He was a very nice old man and he told me to sit down on a hard chair. The old lady came in and put her hands over my ears and pressed my head back while Dickie put a needle into my gum near the bad tooth. I was sent back to the front room where I had to wait with the other girls till our gums were numb.

Then we all took our turns going back to the kitchen. Dickie pulled out my tooth with a pair of pliers and I had to spit out into the bowl. That was it! It was all over.

All my friends used to go to Dickie's and I went back many times. It was well worth the charge of one shilling.