T is for TEETH

All my teeth are my own, but I don't have all of them! I lost one or two long before I had left school, which was decidedly careless, though at the time I was quite happy to see them go as they weren't on their best behaviour for some time previously. I readily accept that I had a fairly major role to play in their unruliness and had been warned many times that such a situation would, not could, develop if I didn't take action. But I was indifferent and indeed oblivious to the advice that I received and didn't even notice a problem arising. Even when the first signs of difficulty appeared I remained unmoved, reassuring myself that such action was for another day. This procrastination could only lead to one place and eventually I arrived - in the dentist's chair and neither of us was particularly pleased to see the other. Sometimes it was a mere filling, other times more drastic measures were required as his silver coloured pliers entered my mouth from somewhere behind his back and began pulling, like a JCB removing a large tree from its roots. At least that's what it felt like to me. Yet it didn't matter what treatment was needed for all were prefaced by the injection needle, often on several occasions and in several different places. The fact that I was reassured that it wouldn't really hurt, maybe only a slight pin prick, was not altogether comforting, especially when that pin prick is happening inside probably the most tender and sensitive part of your body where everything is magnified a million times.

Since those school days, I have revisited my dentist on a regular basis, some planned and some out of necessity and while I am quite comfortable going now and realise that there are worse things in life, though they don't spring to mind just at the moment, I still find it hard to completely relax in the chair.

Our first family dentist was a stern man with little sympathy for sniffling children, white with fear. In those days, a visit to his surgery was an hour of terror and I remember on one occasion that he had slapped my sister on the face because she was tearful as he worked at her mouth. That was the last straw for mum and dad and they told him so, in no uncertain terms and we never returned to his practice. I think it left a lasting impression on us as kids and for the next few years I guess we assumed that all dentists had the same tyrannical approach to their patients, but in all my years since I have never met any who are unpleasant. That doesn't take away the fact that they still have as job to do which on occasions cane be painful for the patient and on at least one occasion, about twenty years ago, I was reduced to writing notes to wife because the work on my mouth had rendered it impossible to move it enough to talk. I think she was hoping I would visit the dentist every day!

What has certainly helped is the advance in treatment and equipment available now with the injection really reduced to just a pin prick and all care being taken to make the patient feel as comfortable as possible and to restrict pain to an absolute minimum. Nowadays, dentists don't breathe over you without a mask, they wear surgical gloves and they talk you through the whole procedure. Then they take all your money as you leave! But one thing that hasn't changed over the years is that they like to ask you questions when your mouth is full of suction tubes, cotton wool and clamps and the best you can answer is a sort of aha or naw with a shake of the head to accompany your voice. I remember one dentist who was also a good friend and fellow member of my rugby club and who usually fitted me in around about closing time, so several evenings after we had chatted about rugby for a good hour and long after everyone else had gone home, he would get around to looking inside my mouth and my initial reason for being there was almost secondary. Oh if all dentists could be just like him, but at least I now know they're all human though childhood memories suggested otherwise. Now brushing and flossing are a way of life and I've no plans to visit the tooth fairy in the near future.

It's funny how what happens in childhood often sticks with you for ever and the memories are very hard to erase. Maybe that's why the writer of Ecclesiastes says 'Remember your Creator in the days of your youth' and Jesus said 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.' The writer of Proverbs is equally specific when he says 'Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.'

I learned at an early about the dentist and the dangers of not looking after my teeth but I also learned about Jesus and His love for me and I've never forgotten it. Maybe you learned too but you just need a fresh injection. Have I touched a nerve?