Deadly Gallows

It had been very painful. I couldn't take it anymore. I was done. I couldn't eat or sleep for days. Most of the nights I twitched and whimpered in my bed in agony. I cried in pain.

That's when I knew I had to go for tooth extraction.

'Oh!' was the only expression given by my boss when I sought leave for dentist's appointment for tooth extraction.

'What?' I asked defensively.

'No... I mean, I have never had it myself but I heard it hurts.' he said with an air of sympathy he might have shown to someone who has just been diagnosed with cancer.

How tactless one could have been! As if I wasn't already scared.

My experiences with dentists had been limited to cavity fillings and even though they are apparently painless, the feeling of pressure on teeth while drilling hole through them is totally unwelcome to me. So this time when I knew my tooth had no hope of being saved, I braced myself for extraction. I collected experiences of almost everyone I knew who went through the same ordeal. I pestered everyone with a single question, 'How much does it hurt?'

While my parents convinced me that it hurts only a little and it would be fine, I knew by experience that 'only a little' could be a relative term and also from the fact that my sister who had already had an extraction simpered at the phrase used by my parents, I concluded that it won't be easy. The only convincing and realistic advice was- 'Oh it sure hurts but it won't last more than 30 seconds. And remember, that will be the end of the pain from that tooth. You will live happily ever after.'

With my heart beating frantically with trepidation and my brain advising me to run and hide while I could, I queued up at my dentist's clinic. That's the moment I knew what Arjun meant by ' सीदन्ति मम गात्राणि, मुखं च परिशुष्यते ।' in Bhagavadgeeta. A scene at a dentist clinic always reminds me of an operation theatre or an interview process where everyone in the queue is restless and have that typical expression on their faces as if they are heading to the gallows for execution.

Once I was inside, I submitted myself in that chair with all horrible instruments attached to it. I tried to look elsewhere just to notice syringes nearby.

'Just do it.' I requested my dentist mustering whatever little courage was left in me.

To my surprise, the needle pierced the gum with almost no pain. I heaved a sigh of relief once it was done. As I waited for 15 minutes for the anesthesia to take effect, I pictured myself getting to live my life without toothache. 30 seconds of pain and it will be fine, I told myself.

He started getting his instruments ready. Several pliers (not sure of what that deadly weapon is called) big and small. They landed up with a soft metallic thud on a tray in front of me. I prayed to as many gods I could remember and closed my eyes shut.

Then the weirdest pain in my life came. He held my tooth in the pliers and pulled it with an increasing amount of force. I shuddered and screamed. The dentist continued mercilessly. (Dentists are devils!) As I was almost on the verge of crying, the most ominous sound came. The sound of a tooth cracking. As expected, now he pulled at three different locations around the tooth till he got the broken pieces out. The pain pulsated till my brain and spread to ears, eyes and it almost felt like some part of my brain was out instead of a tooth.

'It's almost done!' the dentist consoled and I thought the use of the world almost wasn't really soothing.

Finally the pulling seemed to stop and I opened my eyes. Being alive felt great but I was shaking from head to feet. It took me full 2 minutes to get up from the chair. I had the sicksweet taste of blood in mouth and the numb side of my face still felt tingly.

How I paid the dentist and how I came out are vague parts of the nightmarish incident. With cotton held between the teeth, I grabbed one of the seats amongst the waiting patients. I realized they were all already staring at me and I was sure they had heard me screaming. Some of them even gave me sympathetic smiles that were meant to console me. I could hardly return a smile.

I still taste blood as I write this post. Still out of habit- just as one's mind repeatedly goes to the people they miss, I try to touch my tooth with tongue only to realize it's no longer there. (Okay that was a really unromantic analogy). But honestly I can't wait to be able to eat normally.

And yes, those who think that the heartbreak is the worst kind of pain one could have, might not have experienced toothache. I take an opportunity here to thank all the dentists for putting up with the stereotypical opinions people have about them and still free them from their pain.

Now that I am sleeping with a sigh of relief, why do I feel a little tingling pain on my other tooth!!?!