I havent been doing any work the past few days, mainly 'cause I decided that I would use this weekend to rest a little, rather than push myself to study (although i will have to do that later).
My tooth dilemma, or what I thought was a tooth. Lol. You see, for the past few months, I had this hard lump just protruding out of my front jaw, above my front teeth (my problem area as I like to call it, after 5 years of braces). Recently, that little "growth" popped out, and out popped a "tooth". Well, it was white, and hard as well, plus it was basically... feeling-less. So it couldnt be living tissue (not exactly). So I concluded, "damn, I got another tooth!".
SO I thought, or it's back to Dr Chew (my orthodontist, whom my mum keeps referring to as the cute and nice doctor, which i agree. Hey, he is cute and nice ok? Haha, don't get the wrong idea, the guy's probably twice my age, though he can probably pass off as my elder brother, seriously. ) But then again, it is notoriously hard trying to convince the receptionists at the NDC (National Dental Centre for those who STILL don't know, they're famous for performing the tooth-in-eye surgery ya know..) to give me an appointment with my orthodontist (while my friend, who attends the NDC, finds his appointment making comparatively easier, although the fact that his is a different dentist could explain the disparity). You see, when I was still on braces, I would have to go back every 6 weeks to tighten the braces (owww.. the pressure, not pain, just pressure, enough pressure to put you off solid foods for the next 3 days lol). So I would "innocently" (HEY! I was erm 12/13 then, after a while i got used to it) go to the receptionist, pay my bills, and TRY to get an appointment 6 weeks later, only to be told that "Dr Chew can only see you 3 months later, is that ok?" Alright, let's do the math. 3 months, every month as 4-5 weeks, so 3 months would be 12-15 weeks. That's TWICE the number of weeks i was told to come back. But heck, since Dr Chew's THAT busy, I might as well take it, huh? So this continued for 5 years, except for the times when the wire came off and I popped in appointment-less, telling them, "look, if you expect me to live with this wire popping outta my mouth for the next 2 months, I'll come back then". Needless to say, the wire won lol. Anyhow, based on my prior experiences and difficulties in getting appointments, I figured that I would go to the clinic near my place. I mean, hey, I've been off braces for over a year (17 months to be exact *grins*) and my next freaking appointment is next March, so I reckon, it won't hurt to go private for once right?
There goes me, going to the dentist (private one) for the first time in my LIFE. Yes, this sounds pathetic, all my life, the only dentists or anything close to them, I've seen in schools (my primary sch dental nurse whose clipboard everyone feared, I still remember everyone's innate sense of fear whenever we saw a student with a cotton gauze in his mouth walk into the classroom holding that dreaded black clipboard. Somehow, my name's always on it). After Nurse Tan (i think that was her name), then I went through 2 orthodontists (the first guy left, the second being Dr Chew) and 1 dental surgeon, plus probably half a dozen dentists who did tooth extractions and x-rays. So, my dentists have always gone public. Yesterday, I walked into a private dental clinic for the first time in 17 years 7 months and 11 days.
Somehow, my silly mother kept insisting that white, hard solid thing was PUS. WHat on earth was she thinking? SOlidified pus??? So she kept telling the dentist all about my "pus" and my bad tooth brushing techniques (hello, i didnt have to get crowning done at age 14!!!) until he said "no, it's a bone". Her jaw dropped.
Mum: A bone?!?!?! Dentist: Yes, a bone. Mum: How did it get there? Dentist (to me): Have you worn braces before? Me: Yes. Dentist: What was the nature of your problem? Me : *muffled* An unerupted tooth (yes it is possible, just ask my right front tooth) Dentist : Did you have surgery performed on you before? Me: Yes. Dentist : Where? Me : Right about where the thing is growing. Dentist: Oh.. we call it a root remnant. During surgery, a part of a tooth might have broken off and never removed. Over time, -Can't remember, I have a short memory, shoot me for it lol-.... and then it comes out as a root remnant.
Geez, thanks NDC. Lol. I'm not ungrateful, after all you guys did pull out 4 perfectly healthy teeth, made me undergo numerous x-rays and made me bite onto awful tasting mould at least twice, not forgetting the time you pushed this plastic thing into my mouth and pulled them in opposite directions to take photos of my (then)deformed jaw. Lol. But at the end of the day, you did give me a normal set of teeth (albeit one with 4 less teeth). Plus not to mention, a nice orthodontist who somehow couldn't get away from tkgs students (he treated my classmate and another friend from different class too). It was fun, when we could tease him haha. I never got over the time when my friend and i had back-to-back appointments. That was hilarious. And after 6 years of being under the NDC, I'm not afraid of the dentists there, it's the private dentists that I'm terrified of now roflol.
Back to yesterday. So this one, suddenly jabs my gums with anaesthesia (i would appreciate a little warning!!!). ANd then he uses something that resembles a screwdriver from my direction, and pries the root remnant out. Felt painless, a little pressure (you must wonder if im numb, i didnt find braces painful, just pressure-filled) here and there and voila, the thing's finally out. FYI, i kept the remnant as a souvenir, call me freaky if you want, but the little (the dentist called it big), deformed, oddly-shaped thing is strangely, cute to me, or at the very least, interesting. The thing about extractions and surgeries, the pain isnt when the procedure is being carried out, it's when the damn anaesthesia wears off (and when they're injecting it). I had to be immune to that kind of aneasthesia 'cause the pain started setting in within 30 mins after the extraction. And it bleed for over 2 hours. It being my gums of course. Eww. But at the very least, i got painkillers, something the NDC has obviously never heard of lol. 4 tooth extractions and 1 dental surgery with absolutely no painkiller. You gotta give it to me for that one =P.
What I dont appreciate would be dentists injecting anaesthesia into you and they tell you "don't worry, it's just a SMAAAALLLL ant bite" ANd when the "ant" finally bites, you realise that it's actually a GIIIIAAAANNTT ant. Pffft. You'd think after 5 jabs, I wouldn't know how they define small? lol. Please, next time, just tell me you're gonna jab me with anaesthesia (at least a warning!!!). Well anyhow, the extraction left me with a "hole" in my gums *sobs* which will hopefully heal, if I'm young enough.
ALright, I reckon I should stop, been at this for over half an hour lol. Cya
I'm a 3rd year student in what is probably the largest autonomous university in Singapore majoring in a Science-related subject (well it sorta IS SCIENCE). I'm known to be introverted, sarcastic (at times), funny when I rant (which isn't a good thing lol) and somewhat of a loner. I miss LA and would move there in a heartbeat :(
