Patrick's Painting Problem

Patrick Star hadn't been to the dentist in... well, he couldn't remember how long. But when his tooth started hurting while he was eating ice cream, SpongeBob convinced him it was time for a checkup.

"Don't worry, Patrick!" SpongeBob said cheerfully as they walked to Dr. Shellfish's dental office. "Dentist visits are easy!"

"But what if he wants to look inside my mouth?" Patrick asked nervously.

"That's what dentists do, Patrick. It's their job!"

At the dental office, Dr. Shellfish examined Patrick's teeth with his tiny mirror and shook his head.

"Well, Patrick," Dr. Shellfish said, "your teeth aren't in terrible shape, but they could definitely be whiter. I recommend brushing them twice a day to make them nice and white."

"Brush them to make them white?" Patrick repeated, trying to remember this important information.

"That's right! Brush every morning and night, and your teeth will be much whiter in no time!"

Patrick nodded seriously. "Brush them white. Got it!"

The next morning, Patrick woke up with a mission. He needed to brush his teeth white, just like the dentist said.

"Now where did I put my brush?" Patrick wondered, looking around his rock.

He found his old paintbrush from when he'd helped SpongeBob paint his house last month. It still had some white paint on it.

"Perfect!" Patrick said. "The dentist said to brush my teeth white, and this brush already has white on it!"

Patrick opened the can of white paint he kept under his rock and dipped the paintbrush in it.

"This is going to make my teeth so white!" he said proudly, and began painting his teeth with thick white paint.

He painted each tooth carefully, making sure to get them completely covered. Some paint dripped onto his tongue, but Patrick just painted that white too.

"There!" Patrick said, admiring his work in his small mirror. "The whitest teeth in Bikini Bottom!"

A few hours later, SpongeBob came over to see how Patrick was doing.

"Hi Patrick! How are your teeth feeling after the dentist— OH MY NEPTUNE!" SpongeBob gasped.

Patrick opened his mouth to show off his bright white teeth, but his tongue was also completely white, and paint was still dripping from his mouth.

"Look, SpongeBob!" Patrick said, his voice sounding muffled because of all the paint. "I brushed my teeth white just like the dentist said!"

"Patrick!" SpongeBob exclaimed. "When the dentist said 'brush your teeth,' he meant with a toothbrush and toothpaste, not a paintbrush and paint!"

Patrick looked confused. "But he said to brush them white!"

"He meant clean them so they become naturally white! Not paint them white!"

"Oh," Patrick said, suddenly realizing his mistake. "That makes more sense. No wonder my tongue tastes like paint."

SpongeBob grabbed Patrick's arm. "We need to get you back to Dr. Shellfish right away!"

At the dental office, Dr. Shellfish took one look at Patrick's painted teeth and sighed deeply.

"Patrick," he said patiently, "when I said brush your teeth white, I meant use a toothbrush to clean them naturally."

"SpongeBob already explained that," Patrick said sheepishly. "Can you fix it?"

"Well," Dr. Shellfish said, putting on his safety goggles, "I'm going to have to chip away all this paint very carefully. This might take a while."

For the next hour, Dr. Shellfish used tiny dental tools to carefully chip and scrape the white paint off Patrick's teeth and tongue.

"Next time," Dr. Shellfish said as he worked, "I'll be more specific about what kind of brush to use."

"And next time," Patrick said, "I'll ask SpongeBob what words mean before I do anything!"

When Dr. Shellfish was finally finished, Patrick's teeth were back to normal and actually looked cleaner than before.

"There!" Dr. Shellfish said. "Now, Patrick, I'm going to give you this special toothbrush and this toothpaste. Use them twice a day to brush your teeth."

He held up a regular toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste.

"This brush, with this paste, on these teeth," Patrick repeated carefully. "Got it!"

As they left the dental office, SpongeBob patted Patrick on the back. "I'm proud of you for trying to follow the dentist's instructions, Patrick. You just got a little creative with the interpretation!"

"Thanks, SpongeBob! And hey, at least now I know what a toothbrush looks like!"

"That's the spirit, Patrick!"

And from that day forward, Patrick never forgot the difference between a paintbrush and a toothbrush, though he did keep the paint can just in case he ever needed to paint anything else white.

The End.