A Field Trip to the Dentist

 "I'm so excited!" Billy exclaimed, as he sat down to wait for The Writer to back the car out of the garage.

"So am I!" Jolena agreed. "I feel so lucky to get to go on this field trip!"
The dolls were sitting on the stairs, waiting to leave to go to visit the dentist. While they were waiting, Mandy explained that a dentist looks after people's teeth. She told them what they would see and do at the dentist's office. (It's always good to know what to expect before you go somewhere new.)
"I know you will remember your manners," Mandy said after she had explained everything to them. "You are both well-behaved dolls. I know you will say please and thank you, and that you will ask before you touch anything."
Jolena and Billy nodded.
Mandy wanted to make sure the two younger dolls remembered what she told them. "Now, tell me what you will do there," Mandy said.

"First, we will go in and let them know we are there," Jolena replied. "Then we will sit down and wait for someone to come and get us."

"Yes," agreed Billy. "We will be patient and quiet. Then, when someone comes to get us, we will do what they say."
"You will be fine," Mandy assured them. "You both have had a lot of practice doing things real children do. This is no different."

"It's exciting getting to do what real children do," Jolena said, "even though a lot of it is pretend for us."

"Pretending is what we do best," Mandy agreed.

The drive to the dentist's office only took a few minutes. As soon as they arrived, Jolena went to sit down on a chair, while Billy waited for the lady to come back to her desk, so he could tell her that they were there.

After he made sure she knew they had arrived, Billy went to sit down with Jolena to wait patiently.

It was interesting to look around the waiting room. Neither one of the dolls had ever been in a dentist's waiting room before. 

Jolena noticed that there was a big fish tank full of fish. She watched the fish for a while. They made her feel very relaxed.

Billy wondered if every dentist had fish. He knew that some fish have teeth, but not the kind of fish people usually keep as pets.

After a few minutes, the nice lady at the desk told them that it might be a few minutes. She suggested they might like to do some coloring at the children's table in the corner. That sounded like fun!

While Jolena looked through the coloring book to find a page to color, Billy picked out the colors.

Soon the dolls were happily taking turns coloring in the coloring book.

In a few minutes another lady came to the waiting room and said they were ready for Billy and Jolena. She introduced herself. She said she was a hygienist (HIGH-jeh-nist). A hygienist is a person who knows all about keeping teeth and gums clean and healthy. She explained that her job is to clean people's teeth and to help with anything the dentist needs help with, like taking X-rays or handing the dentist the right tools when the dentist fills cavities (KAH-vuh-tees) in people's teeth. Cavities are holes in the teeth caused by something called decay (dee-KAY).

They went down a hall and into a smaller room.

"This looks like the bridge of a starship!" Billy exclaimed when he saw it. The first thing he noticed was a set of cords with things at the ends that looked like something could be attached to them.

"Can you tell me what all of these things are for please?" Billy asked politely, pointing at them.

The hygienist showed the dolls how you could attach tools to one of the cords. She attached a cleaning tool and turned it on. It had a little foam brush at the end that went around and around, very fast. 

While it was moving, she touched it to Billy's fingernail, so he could feel it. Then she let Jolena feel it. She told them that was what it felt like on your teeth.

Then the hygienist showed the dolls a tool that could shoot water, like a water pistol. It was used to rinse the teeth. It could also shoot air to blow the teeth clean, so the dentist can see. It made a swooshing sound. She let each doll feel what it was like to have the water or air on their hands.

Another tool was like a little vacuum cleaner. It is used to remove the water from a person's mouth after the teeth are rinsed. Each doll felt what it was like. It made a slurping sound.

"That's really cool!" Billy exclaimed.

While she was showing these tools to the dolls, the hygienist explained why it is important to look after your teeth. Billy thought it was very interesting.

Jolena was very interested in the computer. She learned that it is used for things like looking at X-rays and for checking to see how long ago X-rays had been taken. 

The hygienist explained that X-rays are pictures of the teeth using high-energy waves to show things you can't see with just your eyes. Some cavities or other problems only show up on the X-rays. If the teeth aren't straight enough, it can make it difficult to eat or speak, and sometimes it causes a person's mouth to hurt. If the dentist sees that kind of problem, the person will be sent to a special kind of dentist called an orthodontist (or-thuh-DON-tist) to get their teeth straightened. It's very important to check children's teeth, because if there's a problem, finding it early can make it easier to fix.

Then the hygienist showed them the frame that holds the film. When you're having X-rays taken, the hygienist will put the frame in your mouth. Then she asks you to bite down on the frame. The frame on this one is red. She takes the photo through the blue part.

The hygienist explains that it doesn't hurt, and it's fun to see what your teeth look like with X-rays. 

In the middle of the room was a big chair. The hygienist let the dolls sit in the chair. First it was Jolena's turn.
"It's like a big recliner," Jolena said.

Then she got down and Billy climbed into the chair.
"There's lots of room for my legs," he said.

"May I pretend to be the hygienist?" Jolena asked.

"I'll be the patient!" Billy exclaimed. "If I may, please," he added.

The hygienist said that was a good idea. She took Jolena to the counter at the side of the room. She showed her a set of tools.

She showed Jolena each tool and explained what it was for. There was a tool to pull off bits of stuff that collects on people's teeth. She tapped Jolena's fingernail with it.

"This is what it feels like when it's used on a person's teeth," she explained.

"That's interesting," Jolena said.

Then the hygienist showed Jolena a little mirror that is used to see the back side of a tooth. Jolena could see her face in it. "That mirror is doll-size!" she exclaimed.

After the hygienist had explained all the tools to Jolena, she took them over to Billy and showed each one to him. Then she explained that the dentist and the hygienist would wash their hands at the little sink before checking someone's teeth and gums. She had Jolena pretend to wash her hands and then show that they were clean.

Normally, the dentist and the hygienist would each put on some special gloves and a mask before they touch a person's mouth, but there aren't any in Jolena's size, so they decided she would just pretend.

After telling Billy what was going to happen, the hygienist made the chair lie back. Billy thought it was like going for a short ride.

"I can see the ceiling," Billy said. "I'm glad I'm not the kind of doll with eyes that close."

The hygienist put a kind of bib on Billy, so he wouldn't get his shirt messed up. Then she brought down a big light that is used to shine in a person's mouth, so the hygienist and the dentist can see well. It was very bright. Now Billy wished his eyes could close.

Jolena was ready to pretend to be the hygienist.

"I can only open my mouth if I no one is looking," Billy said, so the hygienist closed her eyes. (She had eyes that can close.) 
Jolena pretended to check his teeth and poke around in his mouth. She asked Billy if he had been brushing his teeth correctly and if he had been flossing. (That means using a special kind of thread between the teeth to clean where the brush can't reach.)

"I would brush and floss my teeth, if I had any teeth," he replied.

"I know you would brush your teeth and floss if you had teeth," Jolena said. "So would I!"

Both dolls laughed. The hygienist laughed, too, and then she opened her eyes again.

"We have to pretend to brush and floss our teeth after we pretend to eat," Jolena said. "Also at bedtime," she added.

"We are supposed to limit how much candy and other sweets we eat," Billy said, "because that stuff is bad for teeth."

"You are very smart dolls," said the hygienist. Then she gave each of them a little bag with some teeth-cleaning supplies. There was even a little hourglass timer, so they could be sure they brushed long enough.

When they had seen everything, the hygienist took Jolena and Billy back to the counter next to the waiting room. The lady at the counter said she would make their next appointment. "When would you like to come back?" she asked.

"Tomorrow!" the dolls said together.

"How about in six months?" the lady suggested.

Billy and Jolena went to find Mandy when they got home. "How did it go?" Mandy asked as Jolena climbed up and sat on the big chair with her.
"It was fun," Billy said, climbing up to join Mandy and Jolena.

"We saw some really cool stuff," Jolena agreed.
"Tell me what you learned," Mandy said. She put her glasses to the top of her head, which meant she was ready to listen.

"I found out," Jolena explained, "that the dentist looks at children's teeth and gums to see if there are any problems and to make sure their teeth are developing properly as they grow. Children's teeth can even be straightened if they need it."
"I found out," Billy added, "that the hygienist cleans and flosses their teeth and looks for cavities. Cavities are holes in the teeth," he explained.

"Cavities are caused by something called decay," Jolena added. Then Jolena explained that flossing is using a special kind of waxy string to get in between the teeth to remove little pieces of food that your toothbrush doesn't reach.
"It leaves your teeth all clean!" she exclaimed.

Mandy nodded.

"They use X-rays to find the cavities," Billy said excitedly. "They put a little plastic frame with some special film inside a person's mouth. The person holds it still by biting on it while the hygienist takes the picture. Then you can look at the pictures and see your teeth the way Superman could see them!"

"If the person has a cavity," Billy continued, "the dentist will remove the bad part of the tooth with some of those tools and then fill it with special filling material. I'd like to see that."

"Maybe when we go back in six months," Jolena suggested. 

"You really learned a lot!" Mandy said with a smile. "You remembered it, too," she added.

"It was fun," Billy said again. "Now I almost know what it's like to have teeth."
"I wonder what it's like to chew," Jolena mused.
"Me, too," agreed Billy.
The three dolls thought about that.

The dolls also thought about how important it is to take care of your teeth...if you have teeth.

Cast--

Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London

Many thanks to East Bend Dental in Bend, Oregon, for allowing Jolena and Billy to visit and learn about trips to the dentist.

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook and Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook are available from BookBaby and other booksellers worldwide, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

Author's page on Amazon. 

Royalties (net proceeds) go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don't get free shipping elsewhere, buy from Book Baby. Half of the price goes to charity (specific information available upon request). Autographed copies of all three books are available from the author. (Multiple books to the same address have a discount on shipping.) To inquire, email thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/19832501/?claim=j3fj3mbb8kt">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Copyright © 2019, 2024 by Peggy Stuart

Good Cookies

"Come into the kitchen, Pauly," Pippa told her friend. "Jolena is baking cookies, and she said we could watch––maybe even help."

Pauly had just come. Whenever he came to visit, he had no idea what the dolls would be doing, but it was always interesting. Pauly thought he was lucky to meet Pippa his first day at doll school.

"We just started," Pippa told him.

Jolena was standing on the tall stool at the kitchen counter. She turned when the two smaller dolls came in. "Hi, Pauly!" she said in greeting. "I thought that might be you at the door just now." (It isn't often you hear someone climb up on the chair on the porch by the doorbell right before it rings unless it's Pauly.)

"I'm going to bake some cookies for us to pretend to eat," Jolena said.

"What kind of cookies are you baking this time?" Pippa asked.

"These will be oatmeal-raisin cookies," Jolena replied. "I just got everything out."

Pippa and Pauly climbed up to sit where they could watch Jolena without being in the way.

Jolena had two bowls: a larger bowl and a smaller bowl. In the larger bowl, she measured some flour and then added some oatmeal. "I'm using whole wheat flour," she told them, "and rolled oats. This is the same stuff we use to make oatmeal for breakfast."

"Jeffy likes oatmeal," Pauly said. "They put raisins in it when they make it at my house."

"Raisins are good with oatmeal," Jolena agreed. "In fact, this cookie recipe calls for raisins, but sometimes I use dried cranberries or even chocolate chips. I'm using raisins today."

"You're going to love these cookies," Pippa told him, although she didn't really know if this was the same recipe she had pretended to eat before. Everything Jolena fixed was always delicious, especially when you have a doll's imagination

Jolena used some measuring spoons to measure out some white powder. "This is baking powder," she told them. It will put some air into the cookies as they bake. It has two different kinds of powder in it. When they're mixed with water or another liquid, they make a gas. The gas makes the cookies rise, so they're a little puffy."

Jolena added the baking powder to the bowl.

"Isn't gas what Jeffy's parents put into the car to make it go?" Pauly wanted to know.

Jolena didn't laugh. She knew that was a common misunderstanding. "Well," she said, "that kind of gas is gasoline. It's like a nickname for it. That's the fuel that makes the car run. It's a liquid, though, but a real gas is something like air." Jolena waved her hand around, as if Pauly could see the air around them.

She thought for a moment as she tightened the lid on the baking powder. "Does Jeffy's family have a tea kettle?" she asked. 

"That's something they use to boil water for tea," Pippa told him, in case he didn't know.

Pauly thought. "Pauly's mother likes to drink tea," he said, thinking. 

"She has a kind of a thing like a pitcher she puts on the stove," he said. "She fills it with water. Then she heats it up. It makes a noise when the water is hot."

"OK," Jolena said, "so have you ever noticed a sort of mist coming out of it when it's hot, or when she pours the boiling water into her cup or teapot?"

Pauly nodded.

"That's steam," Pippa said. "It's very hot and wet."

"That's right," Jolena said, reaching for another small container on the counter. "Steam is a gas. When water gets very hot, it turns into a gas and goes into the air. Well, that's what happens to the baking powder. It makes the cookies a little puffy."

"When you put water in the freezer," Pippa told Pauly, "it turns into ice. I think that's called a solid." The smaller girl looked at Jolena to make sure she wasn't giving Pauly the wrong information.

"Yes," Jolena agreed, "and when I make popsicles, I pour fruit juice or orange juice mixed with yoghurt into little cups and freeze it. You have to put a spoon in each one before it gets hard. Freezing turns the liquid into a solid. It goes from being soft and runny to hard and firm."

When Jolena had finished adding things to the larger bowl, she reached for the smaller one. 

Jolena broke an egg  into the bowl. Then she measured some oil into a cup and added it to the egg. Next, she used the same measuring cup to measure some honey, then added something from a bottle. She mixed these things together with a thing she called a whisk.

The younger dolls watched in fascination, as Jolena added the contents of the larger bowl to the smaller one and stirred it all together.

Then Jolena measured out some raisins to put into the mixture.

When the raisins were mixed in with everything else, Jolena put some white paper down on a cookie sheet. "This is special paper for cooking and baking," she told Pauly and Pippa. "It's called parchment (PARCH-munt) paper."

She dropped spoonsful of the cookie dough onto the paper. She made them doll-size.

Jolena put the cookie sheet carefully into the oven. "I have to be very careful," she told them, as much to remind herself as to teach them how to be careful around a hot stove. "I don't want to melt my vinyl!"

"Now we have to check it in fifteen minutes," Jolena said, as the smaller dolls helped her put everything away. It was nice having helpers, even such little ones.

The three dolls went to sit down in the living room, where they could be comfortable and have a chat while the cookies baked. "They should be ready in just a few minutes," Jolena told Pippa and Pauly. "Then we can each pretend to eat a cookie with some milk."

"Jeffy's mother," Pauly told the girls, "always tells Jeffy to brush his teeth after he's eaten cookies."

"Yes," Jolena agreed. "Real human people can get holes in their teeth if they don't keep them clean, and cookies, candy or dried fruit really need to be cleaned off their teeth."

"Billy and I visited the dentist once," Jolena told the smaller dolls. "A dentist is someone who looks after teeth for human people."

 "At the dentist's office we got to see some of the tools they use to clean teeth.," she explained. "Dolls need to pretend to have their teeth cleaned and the holes filled, even though we don't have teeth. We do it so real children know what it's like. We took turns sitting in the big chair to pretend to have our make-believe teeth checked and cleaned."

"I like to pretend to brush my teeth," Pauly said. "Jeffy brushes his teeth before he goes to bed, and I like to watch and pretend I'm doing it, too, even though dolls don't have any teeth."

"We don't have teeth," Pippa said, "but some dolls do. They have teeth in front you can see in their mouths. They have to have teeth, if their mouths are sort of open, except for baby dolls. That's because real babies don't have teeth yet."

Just as Pauly was saying that he would like to see a doll with teeth, the timer went off.

The dolls went back into the kitchen, and Jolena looked at the cookies through the little window in the oven door. "They look done," she said. 

She turned off the oven and took the cookie sheet out. Yes, they were done. They were a pretty brown color on the bottom. The dolls all thought the cookies looked yummy.

Jolena put the cookies on a rack so they could be cooling off while she was getting out a plate and pouring milk for each doll.

Soon the dolls were in the dining room, pretending to eat the cookies. They enjoyed pretending to take little bites and munch on them, between make-believe sips of milk.

"I'd better go home," Pauly said when he had finished pretending to eat his cookie. "I need to pretend to brush my teeth! Thank you for the cookie and milk!" 

With that, he was out the door and gone. Pippa gave a big sigh.

"Pauly really should keep a toothbrush here," she said, thoughtfully.

Cast--

Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London

Pippa: Götz Little Kidz Lotta

Pauly: Götz Little Kidz Paul

Doll with teeth: Götz Happy Kidz Anna Snow Rabbit, discontinued

Tea kettle with steam photo: Huffington Post.

Jolena's Good Cookie Recipe

Dry Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 3⁄4 cups rolled oats
• 1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon desired)
• 1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 egg

• 1⁄4 cup olive oil

• 1⁄4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1⁄4 cup raisins (or dried cranberries or chocolate chips)

Directions:

In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together.
In another bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together. (If you measure the oil first, the honey won't stick to the measuring cup).

Mix the wet stuff with the dry stuff. Add the raisins and walnuts and mix. If the mixture seems too wet, add a bit of flour. If it isn't binding together very well, you may wish to add an egg white.

COOL the dough in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 335 degrees.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Make them small if they are for dolls.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden on the bottom of the cookie. 

Makes about a dozen cookies or two dozen doll-size cookies.

Jolena adapted the recipe from here.

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook, Emil: Stories from the Doll's Storybook and soon Classic Tales Retold: Stories from the Doll's Storybook are available from BookBaby and other booksellers worldwide, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Royalties (net proceeds) go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don't get free shipping elsewhere, buy from Book Baby. Half of the price goes to St. Jude. Autographed copies of all three books are available from the author for $20 including shipping. (Multiple books to the same address have a discount on shipping.) To inquire, email thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/19832501/?claim=j3fj3mbb8kt">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Copyright © 2022 by Peggy Stuart