The room I was asked to wait in was surreal, I could feel the tingle down my spine as I imagined what awaited me in that room. In less than ten minutes I would be revealing my hygiene secrets to a somewhat stranger. Somewhat because I knew him but only on a professional level. Some would say there is a binding codex between doctors and patients and that I had nothing to be intimidated about. Nonetheless I still felt uncomfortable. This feeling intensified even more the moment my eyes started screening the room. The white walls, the lighting, the equipments and the inclining chair, covered in hard polythene most probably for easier cleaning.

I was asked to take a seat and when I did, that is when I noticed the dentistry tools all lined up in perfect order. The excavator, the tweezers, the dental nippers, the mouth mirror and worst of all the syringe! My goodness! my blood ran cold and I was already on plan B o my exit plan just in case plan A doesnt work. I am generally not a fun of syringes however, dental syringes are on a whole new level. I am one of those persons who would gladly take a narcotic before I can see that syringe being used on my gums.

The doctor finally came. I must say he is extra friendly and competent but the first time I saw him, I thought he had just come out of high school. By his appearance, I would have judged him to be eighteen. He was relatively short and no signs of a beard ever having grown on his face. He has meticulously clean with soft hands like someone who has never done manual labor. He took a seat on one of the ergonomic padded stools, projected my denture on the screen and proceeded with the explanation of what needed to be done and the steps he would be undertaking. I listened carefully and nodded where appropriate.

The doctor did another quick dental check and nodded to the assistant who armed herself with some vacuum pipe and a second mouth mirror. He then inclined my chair to an abnormal low position for me. I felt like I was laying on this table and where my legs were higher than my head. I withheld my comments and waited for the most dreaded moment of the day. I opened my mouth, squeezed my fist and tightly closed my eyes like someone who had eaten a slice of lemon. The dentist assistant noticed that I was uncomfortable and offered to hold my hand. I politely declined because I knew that I would break her fingers.

I held tightly to the chair as I felt the pain of the syringe on my gums. I was almost crying. The doctor injected the narcotic on both sides of the gum and told me that the worst was over and that I could relax. The doctor left the room and the assistant took his seat and kept asking me how I was feeling every few minutes. I put my thumb up to signal that I was fine. She then started with compliments which I guess she tells all patients to calm them down. You have nice naturally white teeth; I can see that you use dental floss, Keep using that! I thought she would start recommending the best toothpaste and toothbrush in the market, but she refrained from it.

I was definitely not fine, I felt as if someone had just permeated my denture and I had allowed them to do it, and the worst part was that I was going to pay for it. That was a miserable feeling. After about ten minutes later, my cheeks and tongue felt swollen as if I had been stung by a bee. Why in the world would my tongue be swollen? Or was I imagining things? Thank goodness the doctor returned sooner than later.

He had equipped himself with some dental loupes and dental camera. He put on his gloves and started work on my denture, explaining any new thing he was doing. All I heard was drilling, filling, vacuuming then more drilling, filing and vacuuming. I closed my eyes and wandered away in a far place.

The process continued for about an hour and when he was done, he adjusted the sit to a sitting position and projected his results on the screen. He explained what he had done and asked the assistant to make me another appointment for checkup. Due to corona, there was no shaking of hands, so he said his goodbyes and left the room. I find dentist appointment very unpleasant but since twice a year is a necessity, I have no other option but to gladly make a checkup appointment.

I woud be glad if you could please share your view or experiences at the dentist.

Title picture by: Atikah-akhtar on unsplash

written by: Nessa