My teeth have been an eternal source of trouble for me. From cavities to gum infections, and molar decay to wisdom tooth problems, I have had it all.

I started out with thirteen cavities last year. I had not cared much about them until one day, while chewing almonds, a part of my tooth chipped off. It was then that the gravity of the situation struck me, and I decided to do something about it.

I went to the best dentist in town, who poked around inside my mouth for a long while, before declaring that I need to get the cavities filled immediately. However, he said only nine out of the thirteen could go for fillings. The other four required different treatments. Three needed root canal treatment, and one had to be extracted.

I decided to get the fillings done right away, because filling is a relatively painless procedure. Little did I realize at that point that getting nine cavities filled at once could create a deep cavity in my wallet!

The dentist's fees and other expenses amounted to a colossal figure. So I decided to postpone the root canal treatment and the extraction to the forthcoming month. But as luck would have it, I moved to Chennai the same week, on a new assignment. For two whole years after that, my teeth were completely disregarded, ignored and tormented.

Finally, my teeth decided to take center stage. And the protest began. I could not eat anything sweet, and if I did, my degenerating teeth would ensure that the pain shot up all the way to my skull. Gradually, I had to give up eating anything sweet, cold or hard to chew. But life went on.

One day, my mother decided that she must intervene before things got completely out of hand. She gave me an ultimatum.

"Either you come with me to the dentist today, or I knock off all your teeth," she said glacially. She had an icy look in her eyes, and I instinctively knew she meant business. I meekly obeyed.

~*~

"Open your mouth a bit wider," he said, peering into my mouth.

"Aaaaaaaaaah…" I grunted as he poked my gums with a strange-looking instrument.

He thoughtfully scratched his jaw and said, "I need to take an x-ray."

He inserted a small square cardboard piece between my upper teeth and jaw and said, "Bite."

I did as he directed. Just then, I let out an awkward burp. He looked at me with an irritated expression. I was thoroughly embarrassed.

He developed the x-ray, and inspected it. "It is a decayed wisdom tooth which is causing all the problem. There is no space in your jaw to accommodate this tooth. So we have to extract it." I looked at him apprehensively, with fear in my eyes. He went on, "The other three teeth can go for root canal treatment." I was worried that he may extract the tooth immediately.

Fortunately for me, the ordeal did not transpire that day. He gave me an appointment for the following Saturday.

~*~

Saturday dawned bright and sunny. I stretched and yawned. Suddenly, I remembered my appointment with the dentist. I groaned.

"Dear God, please do something! I don't want him to pull out my tooth today," I prayed desperately.

Surprisingly, my prayers were answered. Perhaps God had been in a good mood when he received my entreaty!

The dentist gave me an allergy-test dose of penicillin. And there was an adverse reaction. He referred me to a specialist for a complete allergy test, so that he could give me a suitable combination of drugs after the "surgery."

~*~

Armed with the allergy test results, I went back to the dentist the next week. I was half expecting him to send me away again. But I was a trifle over-confident I guess. He decided to take a go at me that day. *sigh*

Soon, the nightmare began. The phantasm approached me menacingly. I visibly shook myself out of the trance. Oh, it wasn't a ghost after all. It was the dentist. I tried to calm myself. But in vain. The moment I saw him wearing the green surgical mask, I panicked. I started to shake all over. He looked at me through narrowed eyes, which seemed to say, "Stop acting silly. There is no escaping now!"

He injected the local anesthetic. I screamed. He almost punched me! Then began the worst part. He started drilling the bone. I felt as if a road-roller was being driven over my jaw. He had clipped my lips apart, and my feeble attempts at begging him to stop torturing me went totally unheeded.

As the pain shot through my entire being, tears started flowing out of my eyes. And I started to giggle at the same time. It is a weakness I have inherited from my great grandfather. I laugh when it hurts. And now, I was in great pain. The dentist was puzzled. He was wondering why I was laughing and crying at the same time!

~*~

A whole three hours later, I was "released." I walked out of the dental clinic with a swollen cheek, red eyes and a heavy heart. I had lost one tooth, and I felt I had lost a family member. I sighed, and got into the car.

A week later, I was at the dental clinic again. I had gone to get the sutures removed. But alas! I was only being unduly optimistic. The nightmare was not over yet. The bone which had been drilled had got virtually "locked," and I was unable to open my mouth wide enough for him to remove the stitches.

He prescribed a host of medicines and asked me to come back the next week. I went home to my fluid diet, and painful lifestyle, continuing to curse the dentist every waking hour of my life.

~*~

Finally, four weeks after the orthodontic surgery, the dentist was able to remove the sutures. Then he declared me free to eat anything I wanted to. He said I could even chew on both sides!

As I was about to leave, he said, "We can begin the root canal treatment next week."

I nodded with a smile, and said to myself, "You have high hopes, doc! Do you think I'll ever come back to this place again? No way!"

I quietly paid his fees and left, never to get back to that place again.
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