My teeth have not been giving me any problems at all so far. When I was 13, I remembered taking a bus ride to Tan Tock Seng Dental Clinic with my younger sister, she was abt 8 yo. Both of us need to treat some decayed tooth. We had bronze fillings to top up those decayed tooth. That was when I was 13. I didn't have any problems with my teeth at all in my adult life. I do the normal brushing, then second brushing and flossing every night.
February 16, 2023, after a sauna session, I came home and while having lunch, one of my wisdom tooth, top right of mouth came off like broken beach sands. I thought there were stones in my food but on closer look, to my shock, it was one of my wisdom tooth.
I panicked. I was thinking of all the treatment to go through and I told myself I need a kind and trendy dentist. I've a dentist in the neighbourhood that I go to every year to do routine clean up but I feel he is a little outdated and not trendy with the latest treatment. So I decided to visit a new dental clinic that is so new and glamorous. Since I wasn't on the appointment list, I had to wait about 4 hrs to have the consultation with the doctor. Before that, my mouth was x-rayed and had a manual check. Since the treatment need proper clinical words that I'm not used to in normal routine Japanese, I told the doctor to speak in English. But no, he can't speak English. Then he recommended a hospital with some English-speaking doctors. I booked an appointment but they only have one doctor who speak English, and his spot come in one month's time. That is impossible as I need to make an urgent treatment.
So I went back to the not-so-trendy doctor, got an immediate drilling and cleaning and happily, the anaesthetic injection was absolutely painless.
When for 5 treatments that cost me $60 plut cost of bronze tooth $50 (covered by insurance). It was all done within a month.
I didn't know that a tooth even without pain can be decayed.
But the lesson from all this is I should not make judgement on physical front. I've misjudged that humble doctor and I regret that truthfully.
Haiku:
Wilting Mayflower
brown and falling over ground
aging wisdom tooth.
