“Maa! I have lot of pain in my jaw! Its killing me. We should see a doctor asap” I shouted at my mother who was busy in the kitchen.

“Call the dentist and get an appointment. The number is stored in my phone.” She replied immediately.

I made the call. I was to meet the dentist at 5:00 pm at his clinic. The pain was unbearable, it felt like someone was constantly hammering my teeth on the left side. However I couldn’t figure out which tooth was the main devil and I didn’t even dare to diagnose it simply because of the pain.

Ideally speaking,a sick person shouldn’t be allowed to work but I guess tooth ache doesn’t qualify for ‘sicknesses’ as I had to do most of my chores that day. Also the ailing man is given sumptuous food to better his palate which degrades after popping ill tasting medicines for a long time. This doesn’t apply to you if you have a tooth problem because any type of food is a big no for you.

At around 4:30 I left for the clinic. It takes 15 minutes to reach there. Had they not written ‘Smile Dental Clinic’ anyone would have mistaken it for a corporate building. The entrance had a big poster with a lot of elegantly smiling faces which were in stark contrast with what was inside. All I saw inside was an elderly couple who were happy because of no reason – this is quite rare these days. Adjacent to them was a lady who was on her phone but a child was constantly trying to get her attention. I strongly doubt that was her own child and lastly there was the receptionist. A girl in her mid-twenties with such attractive features that a guy would intentionally punch himself just to visit her. I went up to her and confirmed my appointment. I was asked to wait for half an hour.

There is a difference between a dentist’s clinic and a normal doctor’s clinic. The former is lot more tidy with less medicines on display and with a more beautiful receptionist.

While I was making these mental notes the child was trying to tell his mother that something was troubling him but I guess his step brother, HTC One was getting all his mother’s attention. She was avoiding him for no reason. When the small guy’s patience crossed the limits he snatched her phone and threw it on the floor. This was followed by a command from his side “Mummy I want to pee!” He almost screamed. This was enough to wake her motherhood up and she took him to bathroom. That day I literally saw money flushed down the toilet. This was one of the costliest visit to the loo I guess.

“Abhishek you can go inside now.” Said the receptionist. It was my turn now so I went inside. I sat down facing a man who looked more like an overweight businessman. He asked me what was troubling me, I explained everything in brief. He was nodding in approval as if I was teaching something. As soon as I finished my briefing he asked me to go to the adjacent room. It felt like I was being sent to a detention room , so with guilt on my face I went inside. Till now everything about the clinic was very pleasant, it never felt as if I was in a doctor’s clinic – no medicines, no peculiar clinic smell, and no blood, not even horrified people seeking medication. However as I opened the door to the next room everything changed. It was like I had opened a chamber of secrets. My brain was fed with the image of a chair that would have been normally used for torturing Jews.

Later I realized this is the normal chair where the patients were treated by a dentist. I hesitantly lied down on that machine. After about five minutes a girl entered the room, greeted me and asked me how I was feeling. Well this was a surprise. I never knew doctors hire good looking girls in order to quieten the disturbances going on inside the patient’s mind, like some sort of mental therapy. For a moment I forgot the reason of being there. She had such a racy voice that I felt like recording it. She sensed something unusual about me (She was right as I was in pain and the pumpkin me was on his way. Not at all a good combination.) And left the room.

The equipment around me was frightening. I was wondering whether the doctor was a cannibal of some sort and if he would be ripping off my limbs later. This was a negative outcome of watching movies like Saw and Wrong Turn. While I was busy with all this freak imagination the girl entered again but this time she was wearing a white coat and had rubber gloves in her hand. What the hell! She is a doctor. Why God why? Why do girls like her opt for medical institutes and study so hard when they can be an engineer and can get a chance to study with me without working so hard. Anyway it is their choice, what can I do about it? She came near me, took a tool which had a small round mirror attached to a metal and instructed me to open my mouth so as to examine it.

I was loving every second of it. The attention she was giving me was great. She was inches away from me and was more worried than me. I guess this is what love is all about – caring. I wish I could express what I felt for her then and there but with my mouth wide open being inspected by her, it was impossible.

“You had a  guava in the morning?” She seemed inquisitive.  *Aww just look at her, she is worried about whether I had a healthy breakfast or not! She is totally in love with me. I don’t care if she is older than me. Love is unconditional, age is no bar in love. All I have to do is convince my mother. I am so lucky I had bad teeth. Yaay!*

I nodded.

“You should rinse your mouth properly after eating these fruits. One of its seed is stuck between your teeth.”

Upon hearing this I was like

She went on to remove that seed. This was damn humiliating. After this she had a word with my mother and doctor, all I comprehended was that I won’t be able to smile for some time afterwards. People shed blood for love and I was about to sacrifice my tooth for her. The world is a weird place .

“It’ll hurt a bit but I am sure you can handle it.” Her smile stopped me from saying anything.

Then she took this out.

“Is that TXG 500?”

“Yes sir.” She just cleared her mentor’s doubt. An injection with a name like that makes it scarier. And before I could react to that she injected something into my gums so as to make my them numb. I couldn’t even scream. All I did was close my eyes as hard as I could and my hand grabbed her hand *Bull’s eye!*. I never thought the first time I would be holding hands with a girl would be in a situation like this. Then she did all sorts of torture she could to my mouth using these evil tools.

She took a pointed tool and pressed it against my tooth and asked innocently “Does it hurt?”

* No dear I just had an orgasm after you did that super painful thing to me. Can’t you see my face! I was so much in pain. She was asking me stupid questions just to take revenge for that hand holding thing I guess.*

After 30 minutes she was done with the procedure. The doctor prescribed some pain relieving medicines and I left. On reaching home I was eager to know what all was done to my mouth. Till this time I wasn’t allowed to open my mouth in order to stop the bleeding.

I was shocked to see what she had done to me. Two of my teeth were missing. This was highly unusual. They had removed two of my teeth, one on the bottom left and the other on the upper right part of my mouth. I suspected some kind of tooth smuggling racket involved in this. Who knows after elephant’s tusks, maybe ornaments made from human teeth would be in vogue after some time. You can hardly tell, the world is full of crazy people.

I rushed to the clinic again with my mother and went straight to his room without asking for permission. The moment we entered my mother asked in a loud voice, “Why did you remove that extra tooth without our permission?”

The doctor started laughing on hearing this.

“Look madam, this was only a precautionary step, there is nothing to worry about. The other teeth would have developed a similar problem had we not removed it. ” He and his intern chuckled after his explanation.

My first dental experience was so humiliating, so embarrassing that I promised myself that I will look after my teeth with extra care from now on so that I don’t have to go out on another date with the dentist.