1/2Rotten Apple

My li' sis would never allow anyone even the slightest peek into her mouth.
We'd go:" Let us check your teeth," and she'd clam her lips tightly shut.
However last night, my mom somehow managed to yank her jaw apart. My mom's immediate reaction:"AI-YOH~sei fo (die la)...Half of your teeth are completely black!" I put down the book I was reading and turn my attention to the unnecessarily loud senario.
My mom, her eyebrows knitted so closely they could have adhered, continued to rant:"I'll take you to the dentist and have all those pulled out or else they would develop into cancer ...ai-yoh, your teeth are all spoilt!"
Okay, point well taken. But how would a nine-year-old respond to my mom's frantic hyperbolee? My sister is already flushed red, her jaws quivering. Wasn't that too big a reaction? To frighthen a kid by giving her the idea that she'll die out of a mere rotten tooth!
My mom nagged on..."I'll teach you how to brush your teeth!(yakiti-yak-yakiti-yak)..." And my sis become growingly rebellious. I could have sworn this high-pitched interaction is audible enough to rouse the entire street. My sis screamed(ouch~my ears):" I'M SCARED! I HATE JABS(refering to pain-killers)!"
My mom:"HOW CAN U NOT GO!? Now see what happened! No wonder you leak brown saliva while sleeping!"
I tried to calm my mom - to no avail.
Mom left the room in exasperation, instructing me:"You tell her!"
My sis is still crying, mumbling "Don't want jabs!" over and over.
I let her cry for a while, and interrupted:"Yea, it probably would hurt."
" Look," I grab an imaginary apple. "When a small part of a fruit is spoilt, you slice it off right? So you can at least still eat what's unharmed. But igmore it all little longer and you'd have to throw the whole fruit away, and you'll end up with no fruit to eat at all." She quietly listened, staring at my bended fingers (or, more likely, the invisible apple). I caught her attention.
" Same goes with your teeth. Why not just solve this small problembefore letting it get hold of every other teeth?
" You have to be strong. You can yelp, cry a bit, but the pain will be gone in a short while. Just like tripping and scratching your knees, you bleed and cry, and 'ooeey!? ' the pain disappears! There will be many more pains when u grow up, you don't wanna be afraid of pain all the time, do you?"
She pondered with her face crumpled up in a cryin'-pause-mode, and shook her head slightly.
"ok~I wouldn't tell you how to brush your teeth. You just brush until you think its absolutely clean, all right?" I sat on the toilet bowl, her back against me. She pushed the toothbrush into her mouth and start brushing. I merrily asked her to put her eyeballs(literally) into her mouth and visualize every nooks and corners being scrubbed. I clowned as she peered into the mirror, aggressively rotating an invisible toothbrush in my wide open mouth.
Finally I asked, "So do you smell mint in your mouth?"
She nodded with pouted lips.
I know everything that happened there was small and dismissive, but I am really glad that I've at least helped my li' sis diffuse her fear of a dentist visit and start brushing up. Of course, I'm not all certain what she'll do next or what slightest change to expect...nevermind that, I'm just happy to help.