I went to the dental clinic of Alor Gajah three times within two months to get all my cracked filings redone, except for one. Dr Hussain had alerted me at my first visit that if I did not wish that molar to be extracted, I needed to go for the root canal treatment.
I sought advice from my colleague KC, who unfortunately had a lot of dental problems due to her crowded teeth. She sometimes described bad experiences of her teeth treatments for which she had spent thousands of ringgits. Yet, her physical sufferings were still persistent.
"If you can use that tooth for another thirty years, try to save it by all means. Once you lose it, imagine that you can't bite normally anymore."
Despite my naturally aligned teeth, I also used to spend hundreds for scaling and filings at private clinics. Since I had been working with other civil servants, I learnt to make use of our public health centres instead of paying much more to the private sector.
On Monday, I departed from Batu Pahat at around 6.15am. Thank God YT had not been able to ask me out for tea the previous night, because I would have gone to bed very late and felt more sleepy during my two hours' driving the next morning.
I arrived at the compound of the Melaka Hospital and approached an employee in front of the orthopaedic building who kindly showed me the way to the oral surgery specialist's clinic. I waited half an hour for my turn.
"Good morning." I smiled.
The endodontist's mouth was masked. When I heard his voice, I knew he was a Malay.
"You're a lecturer from UiTM?" This was the first time a doctor had talked about my personal detail before I started any conversation.
"I'm just a language teacher. But everybody there gets the title of a lecturer."
I explained to him the purpose of my visit which he probably had known by reading the reference letter that I had obtained from Dr Hussain of Alor Gajah.
"Another specialist is on leave. So, today I'm just going to examine your tooth first and its cavities to see if I can perform the first few steps of the treatment. At your next appointment, she'll decide if your tooth is restorable or to be extracted."
When he mentioned the possibility of the extraction, I heard my heart pumping hard. I quickly prayed in my heart, "Father God, I commit this tooth into Your mighty hands. Please save it and be with me during the whole treatment."
The dentist administered local anaesthetic. Soon after that, my molar and the surrounding area were numb. He asked me to signal if I felt any pain and gave me the good remark that I was relaxed. He was going to clean the pulp from the pulp chamber and root canals and to shape the space for filling. Lying on the dental chair, I could see him using very small instruments in and out of my mouth while chatting with his assistant. When my mouth was available, he also talked to me shortly.
God's presence and the endodontist's friendly voice calmed my spirit. While I was regretting my neglect of the teeth care had led me to travel all the way there to have the endodontic treatment, the Spirit of God spoke to me, "If you were not here, you would never know this place and meet these people. Pray for them."
Then I remembered "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28 NKJV). God wanted me to focus on other people rather than my tooth problem. So I started to pray in my heart for the endodontist, the assistant and other nurses whose faces I did not even see clearly. I asked God to bless each and every one of them. During the whole procedure, I was very comfortable.
The dentist placed a new temporary filing to close the opening. Then he told me, "I've killed the roots. After the anaesthetic is gone, your tooth may feel sensitive for the first few days because I pricked it just now. If the discomfort continues, come back here. Otherwise, at the next appointment you'll have a crown placed on the tooth."
"Thank you, Doctor. God bless you!" It had become a new habit of mine.
He had removed his mask but I still did not catch his face well.
I did not feel any pain until now. And I can add another record to the nice experiences that I have had with dentists.
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