There are certain situations in your life where, no matter how garang a person you are, you just turn into a petrified mouse. Garang, by the way, is the Malay word to mean 'fierce' or 'powerful'. It can also mean 'impulsive', 'courageous' and 'foolhardy' (definition taken from TalkingCock.com).
Quiet and reserved a person I may be, I consider myself a pretty garang gal. But the one situation which reduces me to a pulp of trembling nerves is when I'm seated in a dentist chair. I've never liked going to the dentist. The sight of all that equipment scares me and I don't like seeing them being inserted into and being poked around my mouth. I hate the sound made by those instruments. I tense up every time I'm in that chair and I grip the armrest like I'm holding on to it for dear life. I guess it's an irrational fear but I just can't seem to get past it.
This morning I found myself in that dreaded chair again because I had to have my upper right wisdom tooth extracted. Initially I had thought I had to have the bottom right one extracted as well, but the dentist said I could leave that one for now as it isn't impacted like the top one was. Before this, I've never had a tooth taken out so I didn't really know what to expect.
Thankfully it didn't turn out as bad as I thought and the procedure didn't take that long either. It was, however, horrible hearing the crack of the tooth and feel the pressure of the instruments pressing on the tooth and gums. The procedure I had was considered a surgery as it involved the cutting of the gums. I asked the dentist what was the difference between surgery and extraction and she said surgery involved the cutting of the gums so as to get to the tooth that's not fully erupted. It would also usually involve the cracking of the tooth so that it's easier to take out. An extraction would apply to a tooth that's already fully erupted.
Anyway, I'm so relieved it's over even though the right side of my face is now swollen and my wound is still bleeding!
Posted by DSD at March 24, 2008 12:33 PM