Every tooth in a man’s head is more valuable than a diamond.’ – Miguel de Cervantes

In the beginning

The first time I ever visited a dentist was when I was 6 years old. Ostensibly, there was nothing wrong with my teeth but my dad insisted that an annual dental check up was as essential as an annual medical inspection.

I still remember feeling all grown up as Dr. Luthra pumped up the Dental Chair to a workable height at the Naval Dental Clinic . I can’t recall exactly what he did: whether he worked on a cavity or two , but I distinctly remember him pronouncing that my teeth would require lots of care in the future and that he saw more than the mandatory dental health check up lying in wait for me.

Much like the tailor who swatted 7 flies at one go, I was flabbergasted when my dentist worked on 15 teeth at one go.

At that time my dad pooh-poohed his ‘astrodentistry’ as he called it , convinced I had inherited his dental DNA that promised healthy but misaligned teeth.

Alas ! I inherited my mother’s dental DNA and had perfectly aligned teeth that were unfortunately terribly unhealthy .

And the mandatory half yearly visits soon multiplied as my dental health deteriorated

The Middle Ages

After my first baby, all my Wisdom teeth were extracted as they were impacted . That painful process was exacerbated by the fear of bits of cigarette ash falling into my oral cavity while the dentist explored it with a cigarette clenched precariously between his teeth!

Luckily, I had to abandon this dentist and choose a dentist closer to home so that I could dash to the clinic between baby duties.

But this had its disadvantages too !

Though I was spared the agony of waiting for the ash to fall, I faced the problem that many patients at clinics face : waiting for my name to be called .

This dentist, apart from being thorough in his work, was also a thorough gentleman who willingly took emergency cases out of turn.

And as the children for bigger, so did my dental problems . Gradually, the cavities increased and plain fillings did not help . Many teeth had to be root canalled, crowned and capped.

Very soon , my face became my fortune – or rather the repository of my wealth with more than half my money going towards the upkeep of my teeth .

Finally a time came when most of my teeth were replaced with fake ones that bridged the gaps keeping company with the caps and crowns that protected the teeth with root canal fillings .

Growing pains

My teeth aged along with my body and after a while I got fed up with chronic visits to the dentist. For now, I also had to deal with chronic body ache which worsened while waiting at the clinic. So gradually I reduced my trips to the dentist .

However , I still didn’t make any connection with my teeth and body ache till last week.

After months of picking out the occasional chip of tooth from a mouthful, I saw that the enamel of my front teeth had eroded making them conspicuously yellow against my fake white teeth.

So I went to my latest dentist who suggested a complete overhaul of my jaw so that I not only regained my perfect smile but also got enough teeth to chew with .

As part of the treatment , I had to have 15 teeth root canalled .

And to hasten the process of reconstruction , the dentist did 15 teeth in ONE go.

While my jaw hurt to keep my mouth open (for two sessions) for over 2 1/2 hours at a time , fifteen teeth with two roots each were drilled into and cleaned. As the reamer tip went deeper and dug out the infection, I felt a stab of pain that immediately translated to relief . And when I got off the chair I found that my body ache had vanished !

This led me to believe that there is a strong connection between rotten teeth and chronic body ache.

What do you think?

Have you ever experienced chronic pain vanishing once your dental health has improved?

Ciao