Hating the dentist is fairly common; the official term for the fear is odontophobia. For children and adults alike, the fear often stems from the anticipation of pain, needles, procedures and the unknown. You might not look twice if someone claimed to be afraid of going to the dentist. A little boy in France, however, took that fear to an entirely new level. The 12 year-old hated going so much, he though of an elaborate excuse to avoid an appointment: he faked his own kidnapping.
His dramatic story began in May after he was found by the police. The boy was hiding in Alpine village of St. Gervais on May 21. When he was questioned by police officers, he claimed that he just escaped his kidnappers in the nearby town of Bagnols. He described his kidnapper as a scar-faced villain who lured him to his car for directions … when he was on his way to a dentist appointment. He said the man pulled him into his car and took off. It was just by sheer luck, according to the boy, that he got away. The boy even described the car and what the perpetrator was wearing with great detail. This went on for an entire month, until the police had the boy come back in for more questioning after they reviewed security footage and couldn’t find the kidnapper. Then, the boy confessed to making the entire story up, just so he didn’t have to go to the dentist. (H/T NY Daily News) Kidnapping is a very serious crime and shouldn’t be joked about, but it’s hard not to be impressed by the young boy’s creativity and determination to not go to the dentist. Little boys: 1, Dentists: 0
