I woke up with a toothache one morning. I went in search of a dentist and found a board with the inscription ‘Dental Kings’ in front of a shuttered clinic. Though monarchy is extinct, some still call themselves chai kings, biriyani kings, dress kings, etc.
I noted the timings displayed and made a second visit to ‘Dental Kings’ when it was open. A paramedic welcomed me, asked me to be seated and said that the doctor was on the way. For want of a better option, I sat down and looked around. Four other patients were sitting ahead of me. The walls had
posters of teeth of various kinds with treatments explained using pictures.
After an excruciating wait with an aching tooth, I was ushered into the chamber of the dentist. After hearing my plaint, he asked me to sit on an elevated chair. I found the chair too high for my comfort. But it was convenient for the dentist to practise his art. After poking the tooth, he pronounced, “The tooth seems to be okay. Your receding gum appears to be the troublemaker. Let the gum specialist examine the gum and give his verdict.” Meanwhile,he prescribed a few drugs to alleviate pain.
There was one hitch. The gum specialist visited the clinic only on certain days. I took an appointment and presented my aching tooth and gum to him. He took an X-ray of the tooth and said that the gum was okay and that the decayed tooth only needed to be repaired. The next day, I went back to the first dentist. He looked at the report of the gum specialist and said, “Yes. There is some decay. Let the root canal specialist do the needful. He comes here two days in a week. You can choose a convenient day and time.”
After a few days, the root canal specialist drilled the bad tooth, cleaned up the decay and plugged the roots. He advised me not to bite hard with the mended tooth till the first dentist put a crown on it.After a week, I presented myself to the first dentist. He examined the tooth and confirmed from me that I felt no pain. He said that he would like to take the opinion of the gum specialist before crowning the tooth, because of the receding gum. A few more days went by before I could get the attention of the gum specialist. He gave a ‘no objection’ certificate for a crown being placed on the repaired tooth. After a few days, the ‘Dental King’ condescended to crown the tooth with a ceramic cap. At last, I could munch hard my favourite pakoras happily.
Email: mailpsubramanian@gmail.com