My Wisdom - All Gone !!!!!

What has wisdom got to do with the tooth , Doctor ?? Asked Mr. Nataraj to me as I just finish examining his mouth.. God, this guy was waiting when I would take the mirror and probe off his mouth I guess, I said to myself.. Well.. actually the people who coined the name for the tooth were assured that a human becomes wise only after 17-18 years.. Since the tooth erupts after that age, this tooth is called so , I responded ! Oh, Appadiya , Mr. Nataraj smiled. That was the best possible explaination I could give for the Wisdom tooth ! Well.. that is what we read in Dental School.
But respite being wise we still get married, Doctor, he mocked.. looking at his wife. Mrs. Nataraj stood there cluless wondering why this man suddenly is pulling her to the scene .. Yes, that is why God sent you an intelligent wife, Mr Nataraj ! So you dont have to feel bad that your life is doomed , I responded quickly !
Aaahh !! Ego !! I dont understand why a man has to make an unecessary point that he is not happy getting married when he is actually !!! Imagine a wife start saying she is bugged with marriage and the restrictions she has to face after the same.. what will a man say ? That is life.. you are a woman. That is how you have to be !! Huh ?? Says who ? Like rules are already written for a wife and husband.
Mrs. Nataraj smiled sheepishly ! Mr.Nataraj just grinned since he knew he shouldnt mess with me ! WOMEN !!
So, this tooth is givng me lott of problem, Dr. I have a dirty smell from my mouth. My junior by then was ready with an
X-ray to shove into his mouth. We shall discuss about the tooth once I see the Xray, Sir .. I said. The Xray revealed that one of his wisdom tooth ( third molar ) , the lower right one was slanted. It was hurting the tooth infront of it. There was a gap which lodged food particles between the two teeth and this had caused decay to begin. We could remove the wisdom tooth, Mr. Nataraj, I advised. Then what next, ma'am ? The wisdom tooth is usally of not a big use for chewing. it just erupts for few when there is space behind the 2nd molar. Food doesnt get in upto there and seldom is used for chewing. So it is alright if you remove it, Sir. But Ma;'am
then why did I get it in the first place ?? Huh ? Now whom do I blame for this, I thought ! You getting the tooth is not because of me, Mr , I wanted to say ..Well.. I just smiled and made sure he understood it was a silly Q to ask a Dentist ! He said, will I feel the empty space after that, Doctor ? If you put your tongue or finger there and " feel " maybe you will really then since you still have touch perception , Mrs Nataraj retorted !!
Hehe.. cool I thought ! This woman has sense . I had nothing more to say, since Mr. Nataraj was already feeling weird enough after those comments ! I had to call for a Specialist since he is more practiced in such cases. We call the tooth which is not erupted into the mouth and still troubles from inside the bone as " Impaction " . It means condition of an Impacted tooth. Surgeons would just be giving their full time to such cases and hence will know where to tip and remove the tooth. Rather than me removing it, which would take an hour or more as compared to an Oral Surgeon. I scheduled an appointment calling my Consultant, Dr. Satish.
He was my batchmate but never looked like one. He looked more like an uncle to me ! He was huge as giant but had a face of a baby ! Every female patient of his used to jerk a bit when he went near them !
Such was his stature ! Dr. Satish , came as per schedule on a Saturday evening at 3 pm. All the instruments ready and the clinic fumigated ( disinfected ) we were all set. We usually disinfect the clinic every week.
Sometimes we do it more than once when we have a couple of surgeries . It is said that bacteria is available in air too and this needs to be cleared.
As Dr. Satish came in near Mr.Nataraj with a Hello, Sir !! Mr. Nataraj imagined the huge lion pouncing on him ! I grinned and teased Satish ! Mr.Nataraj pestered me to stay around. I promised him. Satish, gave a
deep look at the Xray and as he usually does commented to the patient " I will remove it in 10 mins " ! " Everyone says so, " Mr. Nataraj grinned ! Sir, I will do it ! He gave him the injection and askd him to relax. Comforted him and first opened up the gums to have an access to the deeper side of the tooth . Mr. Nataraj was sweating. My junior ordered our assitant to switch on the player. We had this meditation kind of soothing music in our clinic. It played waves, woods and so many more rythms.
Sometimes the patients used to fall sleepy. Damn, they used to bite my finger too ! But, poor tired souls is all that strikes me in that pain. Mr. Nataraj assumed a hindi film song would play now.. but soon his eyes calmed down. All this took roughly about 3 mins. Dr. Satish asked him.. are you alright ? Shouldnt I be ? , he must have thought. He nodded.
Well.. I promised you I would take it 10 mins but I am so sorry .. Sir. I couldnt wait that long he said and " Tuck " I heard a clicking sound. Mr. Nataraj was assured his bone was broken. The tooth was all out and in a matter of 4 mins. Mr. Nataraj was shocked and happy at the same time. He gave me a very pleased look. I smiled and told " No more pain from that tooth " ! He got off and my junior gave him a glass of glucose water. Loss of blood you see. We packed the area with cotton and antiseptic pack and wrote a prescription. Happily paying the charges for treatment , Mr. Nataraj walked out thanking me and consultant. That is Dr.Satish for you, very supercilious about himself ! He is so adamant about his success that he flaunts it in style ! I like his work so much and just love it when he shows it off with arrogance too ! Hey,what is wrong. He is
soo good at surgeries and deserves to be arrogant ! He never acts funny though to patients or colleauges. He is one sweetheart !! I simply cant help but smile when he says " I finish work so quickly that I get bored " !
We just had some coffee which is normal routine after every surgery he does in my clinic. During conversation he asked me what I have planned to do with my 3rd molars !! Oh GOd, this guy remembers, I said to myself.
Both my lower molars were impacted. One side the tooth was similar to Mr. Nataraj's and the other side it was completely inside the bone ! The latter had also lead to formation of a cyst and was infected a couple of time !! What a Dentist isnt ? I walked around with huge casualities inside my mouth !! I said, I have to get it removed sometime, rather unashamed. He looked at my junior and asked her if another set of instruments were autoclaved ( disinfected ) . She happily nodded yes, understanding he was all set to pounce on me !! I lost my equilibrium ! It was not as easy as telling " dont worry the injection wont hurt much " !!
What the hell ? Ofcourse it will hurt.. and it is going to hurt me !! I just couldnt handle the sudden turn of events. The next thing I know, I am sitting on my own chair and Satish is talking to my junior explaining what a bad example I am to her as a Mentor !! I shall get it removed some time later, Satish , I yelled ! No, Preethi .. You have been postponing it for quite sometime now.. You know it will turn to a swelling and be dangerous while you are on your first trimester of pregnancy , dont you ???? What ??? Pregnancy !!! You nuthead, I am yet to be married and will get rid off it before I am pregnant I screamed ! It was such an usual scene in my
clinic but the fun part was the roles were tossed !! My junior was convincing me about the treatment and Satish was asking me to behave myself !! Jeez !! What is happening to me and the world I am in, I thought.
Calmed myself quickly and was too speechless ! Took a deep breath and said " Ok, Extract them !! " Whoa ! My junior looked happy ! Huh? I never knew I troubled her at all.. why was this woman happy ??


I could see the huge syringe nearing my face like a knife about to peirce me !! It wont hurt, he said ! I said something soo nasty to him that he could not stop laughing ! C'mon, ofcourse a prick would hurt ! I even tell it to my patients !! I could feel the needle get into my skin.. the needle tore the tissues to make way and I literally felt the anesthesia getting in. The actual pain is not when you prick.. it is when the anesthesia breaks all the small veins on the way to reach the nerve which has to be blocked ( stopped from sending / recieving sensation ) . I realised now, when patients used to do " Aahhhs " after the prick ! I swore to myself that I will never tell the patient " that ONLY the prick would hurt " !! In due time, I felt numb on that side. But stil, I could feel what he was doing, also because I " know " what he was doing. God !! I could imagine the veins getting
cut, the flesh getting cut, him going near the bone and what not !! My junior asked so, how long are you going to take to remove her tooth, Sir ?? He didnt answer. Suddenly he said.. just like her, the tooth is hard nut to crack !!
Alas , that was the last thing I wanted to hear from him. I knew the surgery would go on for a long time now. He had to cut the bone and remove the tooth in two peices. The pressure when the tooth is removed took my life out of me almost since I had a cyst too ! I cursed myself for having accepted the surgery. However, I would have gone through the pain isnt ? I calmed again. After 45 mins, the tooth was out in
peices. he washed the area well and said.. I need to suture ( stich ) it, Preethi ! I know , I nodded ! When bone is cut I know it has to be stiched together. He sutured it and said. Get the other one removed too.
Anyways you would have swelling on this side.. go through pain for the other side too and finish it off !! I surrender to you, doctor ! I used to hear my school friends ( non-dentists ) say that whenever they go to a dentist they end up making frequent visits after that. We go for a problem and the Dentist points to another already existing one and our visits increase. I used to argue that, we Dentist cannot simply let go when we know there is another problem in the mouth and just attend to the one which the patient complained off . Getting the treatment done is entirely upto the patient but, pointing and revelaing the problem is our duty I used to say !
Satish , just did that ! When Doctors become Patients it is a very bad scene I tell you !! So, I got the other one removed too which went on for another 40 mins !! Soon after that my friend suggested I must get rid of the above two wisdom teeth opposite to the ones I got extracted then and there since it may supra-erupt !!
Supra-erupt means coming out of the socket. For a tooth to stand upright it needs to have support from all sides. Tooth opposite to it , side to it and the tongue and cheeks as well adds to support !! This is why, you
see some tooth drifting to the empty side if present next or opposit to it. It moves to the area of least resistance !

I just wanted to cry and laugh at the same time !!! Really !!!
I dont know wether I nodded but Satish took my silence as Yes and had already injected my upper jaw !! I was numb however on the lower jaw and had no clue what was happening ! However, the upper 3rd molars was
out in less than 5 mins. But the pressure was so much that my entire skull ached !! He didnt want to suture the upper area and asked me to maintain it well ! He just pulled off his gloves and went to the sink. the
otherwise Satish used to sit next to patient and assure everything would be alright ! He cared so less about a Dentist, i thought ! My junior asked me if I wanted to drink something. I could barely speak and just
nodded. I had a tablet for pain since I knew it is going to hurt terribly once the anesthesia died down. I asked him how much I need to pay, for which he returned a slap on my already numb cheek ! Had it not been numb I would have turned into a Samurai , I thought ! Ethics you see ! I asked my junior to handle the appointments and not call me till Monday and left to home ! My mommy was too shocked to see me and ran to the Puja room to get some kumkum.. My mom's way of easing my pain. I started to look like a chipmunk the next day and continued looking so for 5 days !! I was on a liquid diet for a week and didnt talk for complete 3
days ! I refused to go to clinic with that roly-poly face and used to just say hmmss when my junior called to update the appointments. it took me atleast a week to get back to normalcy and when I told my patients the
reason for my absence from clinic.. They laughed " A Dentist has teeth trouble ?? " Yeah, people !! My tooth doesnt know I am a Dentist isnt ?? "