Priya had a toothbrush with a yellow duck on its handle. She liked the duck. She liked the strawberry toothpaste. She did not like the bristles touching her teeth.
“Too tickly!” she cried each night, wriggling away before Mama could brush the back ones.
Soon Priya’s teeth felt as if they were wearing fuzzy little sweaters. One morning, a back tooth gave a sharp twinge when she bit into toast.
At Dr. Jojo’s clinic, Priya sat in the special chair and opened her mouth.
“Aaaah,” she said.
“Excellent cave,” said Dr. Jojo. “Let us see who moved in.”
He handed her a small mirror while he shone a light across her teeth. Sticky crumbs hid beside one tooth, and a pale patch showed where they had been sitting.
Dr. Jojo brought out his Sparkle-Spy tablet. On its screen, the crumbs became a gang of green Sugar-Bugs. One wore a crumb as a hat. Another was building a biscuit fort.
“They eat what is left on our teeth,” he explained. “If they stay too long, they can make holes that hurt.”
Priya frowned. “That is my tooth. They cannot build there.”
“Then we need a gentle eviction.”
First, Dr. Jojo found a brush with very soft bristles. Priya touched it with one finger. Then it touched one front tooth.
Tickle.
She giggled but stayed still.
“Let’s give the brush a route,” he said. “Outside, inside, chewing tops. Slow circles. No racing.”
Priya chose a silly tune. As Dr. Jojo hummed, she brushed the outside of the top teeth, the inside, then the bumpy tops. They repeated it below. Whenever the tickle grew too much, she paused, breathed and started again.
On the Sparkle-Spy screen, the Sugar-Bugs scattered. The one in the crumb hat tumbled into a foamy wave.
“Retreat!” Priya called through the bubbles.
That night she showed Mama the route. Outside, inside, chewing tops. The yellow duck bobbed while Priya brushed. At the back tooth, she slowed down and made tiny circles.
When she finished, her mouth felt smooth instead of fuzzy.
The next morning, Priya checked her smile in the mirror. No sweater teeth. No biscuit fort.
She lifted the duck toothbrush like a tiny flag. “This cave is occupied,” she announced, “by me.”