Yesterday, my dentist’s assistance called if I wished to have a routine checkup. Impressed by the proactiveness of my dentist, I promptly agreed to a 9.30am appointment. The truth is, I am still traumatised by my “routine” extraction of my wisdom tooth back in 2003 that took like an hour till Doctor Goh was exhausted and about to call in another dentist as an emergency.
Four years have passed and the clinic now equips with a large LCD TV that shows the X-Ray results instantly. The patient records are stored in a server and the good doctor now has a tablet PC with him. After all the greetings and long-time-no-see, I told him that I currently do not have a dental benefit. So, need not to say, all the cosmetic and non-essential procedures are out. He asked if I have seen other dentists and I told him that I have not. He took a closer look at the X-Ray results and said: Good news! No cavity. Just polishing and scrapping. I almost leaped in joy and screamed: Yay!
The polishing has a salty aftertaste. The scrapping though, I felt like time has frozen. Before the start of scrapping, Doctor Goh has already warned me that this could be “sensitive”. Working from the inner side of my teeth at the lower jaw – right to left, then the outer side, and then the same for my upper jaw, I had an image of a download progress bar right on top of my head. After a 12.5% completion, Doctor Goh announced that he has to up the power of the scrapper to 10 and asked me to protest if the pain was too much (like I could with all the tubes inside my mouth). “Uh-oh, this is going to hurt,” I thought to myself and true enough, the “download progress bar” moved a bit faster but the pain was barely bearable. From time to time, the good doctor asked if I was okay and I bet he couldn’t see the tears behind the shade that I was asked to wear. When he scrapped the inner side of my upper jaw, I felt drops of hot blood dripped onto my tongue. What a gruesome sight. No wonder the nurse did not look too happy.
I have no idea how much blood I have shed during the procedure, right after the procedure, and even now. I met up with Mark for lunch and I couldn’t even chew the meat inside the porridge. Just before I left the operation room, Doctor Goh looked at me proudly and said that not many patients can withstand that level of pain. I looked at him with my teary eyes and said: sure, it was like a good massage. Then he gave me some good advice. If I am to see him more often, the scrapping will not be that traumatising.
Uh-huh …
3 replies on “1 Litre of Blood (A Visit To My Dentist)”
HAHAHA~~~!!! can’t stop laughing while reading… though it is a ‘blood-shedding’ experience for you…. hehehe 😛
Well … it was indeed a very memorable and painful experience. I did not exaggerate and the thought about it still send a chill down my spine.
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