I guess if I were awake all night enjoying the sun, I wouldn't want to wake up for my dental appointment either

Today was a no show day. Our clerk/translator didn't show up, and only six out of sixteen people came for their appointments. Everyone's excuse was that they were sleeping because they were up all night. Great. It made for a long and boring day for me. Our clerk finally called me at 2:30 to say that she had just woken up and would be on her way, I told her to just take the rest of the day off, but please come back tomorrow morning. Needless to say, it was a frustrating day. I would call people one to two hours before their appointments to make sure they were coming, only to get a cancellation call five minutes before the appointment was supposed to start. I had one person come in without an appointment wanting to see the dentist, I told her to come back in 2 hours, she came back 2.75 hours later drunk. I was not impressed and we obviously could not treat her in that state.

The patients we did see were mostly young, either babies or adolescents....There were a lot of tears today. One young girl was really scared, so the mom called the dad to come and hold her hand. A part of me thought "oh, this is so sweet" while the other part was thinking that the parents presence is only making her cry more. Kids are often much better with the parents out of the room.

We had the cutest two year old boy come in. He was all smiles and so excited to see me. I always try to make the appointment fun for the little ones, I give them stickers, rides on the dental chair (they love how it goes up and down!), and whatever else I can  think of. This boy could not stop laughing and smiling at me. My heart began to break when he opened his mouth, though. Complete decay and an abscess, another ECC to add to our Wednesday list. He may have loved me today, but by Wednesday he will think I am a monster. My only condolence is that we will be taking away his pain for the long term.

I was glad to see the water truck come by today. I don't think the locals realize the court people are here yet, and they may decide to not bring water tomorrow. The court people are here for the next week.  I'll be keeping my water bottles full just in case.