It started when I was about 14. I had one terrible incident at the dentist assigned to the school. You know, the type that looks like a small vehicle on the outside, and is cramped inside. The experience was painful, and all I could remember was how rude and unprofessional the assigned dentist was. I was able to avoid them through the rest of secondary school. Then I had one incident when I had to get some abscess drained when I was 17. After that, I avoided them for 17 years.
Return to the fear
A particular tooth near the back stole my sleep for a few days straight, throbbing all the way with mild pain but a constant nuisance. I decided to face my fear ; I felt I didn’t have much of a choice.
I went to the clinic near my place. At the ripe age of 34.
X-ray scans revealed multiple infections on various teeth, including the one that was troubling me. A simple check revealed multiple cavities. By sheer luck, 90% of my teeth were still functional though. The clinic dentist advised me on next steps, while fixing a few cavities first, and split its work between itself and the gahmen branch (National Dental Centre).
The embarrassing cavity at my front tooth, black as coffee powder, which bothered me for 17 years… was patched up in all of 5 minutes.
Then I had my bad tooth pulled, and although I was conscious throughout the experience, I felt no pain after the local anesthesia . It was nowhere near the trauma of my experience. The fear was for nothing! The dentists attending were nice, polite and reassuring! Has dental care improved that much in 17 years?
Root Canal
The next thing to do was to clean up some infections through a root canal. I talked to a co-worker about it. Lets call him “Faker”. Faker told me he felt like he was being stabbed in the tooth multiple times, and he would like to avoid ever experiencing it again. I believed him, or rather my long-lived fear expects that he was telling the truth.
But Faker was wrong!
After the injection, you feel numb. They drill 2 tiny holes in the diseased tooth, and used a long, thin rod to dig out the infection. I felt like someone was gently pulling on my tooth, and there was the only sensation. No pain. I just lay there for 30mins while the kind dentist did the work.
I could have gotten heart disease
At the first visit, I confessed that I haven’t seen a dentist since JC. She told me that it was dangerous to avoid dentists. Good teeth protects your body against the outside world of bacteria, especially those coming in through your food and drinks. They are like little white shields. When bacteria enters the bloodstream, through a tooth eaten through by cavity or by gum disease, it can travel to all parts of the body. And the hub of the body, your heart, which all blood flows through roughly 100,000 times per day is a core target for bacteria infection. And that can lead to heart disease.
In the 4 months since that first visit, I fixed up all my dental problems. 17 years of neglect fixed in 4 months. And I now go for a routine cleaning every 6 months.
Don’t be a dental dodger. Your health will thank you for it.
