I can't remember it for sure, but I would say that they did not.
We were just by his side, so he could grab our hands, because he was a bit nervous. But I don't think he felt pain. Simply discomfort.

Oooh his cavities weren't very deep then?
It's just I remember the thing that really scared me off dentists was getting cavities filled, and the drill would go so deep and hurt a LOT but the dentist I had as a child never gave me any numbing for the pain.

I think the first time I even found out that dentists can numb you before drilling was in high school/uni. And that was a mind-blowing moment o.o

No, they were not. Luckily.
We had gone to the dentist on May.
On July we moved to a different city, had to find somewhere to live etc, so he spent a lot of time with his grandparents and I did not keep my usual obsessive eye on him.
On August I noticed black points on his teeth and run to find a new dentist.
The cavities were probably only a month old so not a big deal, but better fixing them early that letting them grow into huge tunnels.


I've never needed numbing for that kind of stuff.
In fact I've only allowed it once, when I had one piece removed and they put a fake one with some sort of screw.
But I'm not good at noticing pain anyway.

That is super lucky!
I don't think I visited the dentist regularly like... ever... So I'm reaping what I sow with more severe cavities

I am terrible with dental procedures, I don't think it's even completely the pain, that drilling sensation is what gets me the most. Outside of dental I actually have fairly good pain tolerance, it's strange /D;;


Btw tangent: Do you have any tips on how to tell parents in a gentle but able-to-get-through way that their child is doing passable and that is actually a great achievement for the kid even though it doesn't meet the parents' standards? Semester-end is approaching fast here too and I'm planning my scripts for what to discuss with some of the parents. This limbo between rooting for the kid but also placating the parents is still something I'm not very good at

What you are asking is often impossible. Many parents are delusional when it comes to their children academical skills.
Specially in those who are very hard-working kids with smallish issues, so they've got decent results up until a point because their hard work compensates the lack of deep understanding. But then they reach a certain point where that lack of deep understanding become a huge problem, and despite keeping the good work the scores lower.
If that's the case, parents usually assume that the children are working less, even though it's not the case. And sometimes it's very hard making them change their mind, they may not believe you.
It's quite frustrating.

Tips?
Be polite but say the truth, as plain as possible. And start with the "bad news".

- Mike is doing passable considering...
- What do you say, he's not doing well enough!

OR

- We've noticed Mike is having some difficulties in Science.
- But he never had!
- Now he does. ¬_¬
- But...
- He does have difficulties, and he has worked very hard to do his best. I think what he has managed to achieve is a great.
- What do you say, he's not doing well enough!


Yes, well, you'll probably get to the same point, but at least they have heard where the difficulty lies.
Otherwise they may not listen to you anymore.

But then they reach a certain point where that lack of deep understanding become a huge problem, and despite keeping the good work the scores lower.

Yes this!! Exactly this!!
Since I'm mostly working in tutoring, this is a huge issue because parents expect constant results if they're putting their kid in tutoring right? But the thing with most (Asian) parents is that they always want better and feels that learning is a linear process.
I have a student right now who had come from China just last year and was failing all her courses because she didn't know how to study and knew zero English. After tutoring her for a year she's now sitting at high 70s/80s on average. Which is super super amazing because she worked hard. But now her parents are like "if she can go from 50 to 80, why can't she go from 80 to 90?"
*Insert internal screaming here*

And then when I explain that now it's a more complicated matter of understanding and critical thinking and they're like "okay teach her that" and it's like sure but that'll take up to years, not the months you're thinking of...

I always have the habit of giving good news first then subtly inserting the bad news LOL it works well for some parents and not so well for others, like the case above. But for the case above giving bad news first also won't end well...

Some people won't take the bad news, no matter how you put them ¬¬
But as a general rule I think bringing them forward first makes it easier, because at least they have not dismissed you as a complete fool yet xD



But, yes, families (and often students) don't really understand how learning evolves.
Sometimes you reach some kind of plateau.
Sometimes you can do well in one level, but the next one become just too hard.

I'm actually having some problems right now getting some of my students to understand that.

I think families are one thing, they can be frustrating to get through but ultimately it's a couple of conversations over a long time.

It is a lot more stressful when it's the student feeling discouraged because of their plateau. What troubles are your students hitting? :O

Oh, well, I have a bunch of students who chose the "easy" path - which is oriented towards going to a vocational school - and now because they manage to pass most of their subjects they want to switch to the "hard" path - which has an academical orientation.

It's not unheard of and can be a quite safe bet under certain circumstances, but more often than not it ends up becoming a total disaster.
I actually said to one of them that I think she can do it - albeit getting much lower scores - but every other one (who hardly even managed this path) I would not recommend them to do it AT ALL.
They won't hear, but well, they never do.


*sighs*
And yesterday my students who are applying to college had their maths exam and apparently most of them did very poorly v_v

Ahhh, that sounds like a huge jump. Going from an "easy path" to the academic one. Are the students really confident in themselves or just feel like they really /need/ that switch?

Oh no, exams D: that's stressful and scary for everyone involved!
Is this like a college entrance exam?