Top This!

I’ve always believed that the effect of emotional pain far exceeds any physical pain. But as it turns out, the pulsing soreness and piercing twinge of a toothache provide just about the most effective distraction to everything else.

There’s a long list of dental surgeons at the dental center I go to, but I was lucky enough to be assigned to Dr Chan on my first visit and I’ve stuck with her ever since. Given how terrified I am of going to the dentist, I never would’ve thought anything could’ve comforted me. But Dr Chan proved to be a miracle worker with her gentleness. She’s like the tender mother I never had. There was one time when Dr Chan wasn’t available and I had to go to Dr Ng. Dr Ng is male, young, and quite good-looking (as far as I could tell from what his face-mask wasn’t covering anyway). So I was quite taken aback when I called to make an appointment a few days ago and the receptionist asked if I wanted to see Dr Ng. From the amount of pain I was experiencing I knew this visit would lead to the agonizing procedure of a root canal that would require multiple visits, and Dr Chan would be much needed by my side. And come on, the only thing more anxiety-inducing than getting a root canal is getting one with a young good-looking doctor staring at my cavities the whole time. What was the receptionist thinking?

For the most excruciating pain, you need a really caring dentist and lots of anesthetic. I’d say I have a pretty high tolerance for physical pain, but not when drilling is involved. They should highlight on my patient record that I need extra anesthetic so that I wouldn’t have to ask for it each time. I ended up getting enough to keep my tongue, chin, and the whole left side of my mouth completely numb for the rest of the evening, so much so that swallowing became a challenge. The tricky part is that the pain comes back quicker than the sensation. So by the time I needed pain medication I was still struggling to control my drooling.

The sound of the high-speed drill may give you the chills, but it’s the vibration of the low-speed drill that’s going to send the hairs on your big toes standing. I knew I had to do something to distract myself or I would’ve been overcome with an anxiety attack. So I retrieved from my memory what was handily stored from last week’s rerun on ATV, and found myself singing repeatedly in my head:

We're off to see the Wizard
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
We hear he is a Whiz of a Wiz
If ever a Wiz there was
If ever, oh ever, a Wiz there was
The Wizard of Oz is one because
Because, because, because, because, because
Because of the wonderful things he does
We're off the see the Wizard
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

We often hear anaolgies regarding toothaches, usually in the form of "I'd rather _____ than have a toothache." After these past few days, there's really not many things I wouldn't fill that blank with. I'm really grateful to be under the care of Dr Chan though. She might just be the whiz of the wiz. I’m sending her a gift basket when this is all over. And the gift basket will not contain Godiva chocolates.

The antecedent (Thanks M!)