Thursday, February 16, 2006
Cosmetic Surgery
I confess.
I did it.
I spent eleven hundred and zero sen today.
On my teeth.
Only.
But it wasn't vanity.
It was necessity.
I had endured pain.
Though not till the point of death.
But pain nevertheless.
For about seven days.
Brushing my teeth twice a day wasn't a problem.
Rinsing after that was.
One particular tooth had been exposed.
Totally.
Well, almost.
I had somehow brushed into my tooth.
Literally.
Could have been the toothbrushes.
When I was a teenager.
Hard bristles. Not medium or soft.
Even wore them out monthly.
I could see that my tooth had at least two layers.
The outermost layer.
White.
Almost white.
More like yellowish white.
Ivory white.
Whatever white.
Then there was red.
Or some darker coloured layer.
Not black.
Or blue.
But reddish.
Probably.
Anyway, I thank God that my immediate "boss" gave us the afternoon off. If not for this, I would have to press my cheek against that exposed tooth while rinsing until who knows when.
My immediate idea on how to spend the bonus was to lepak in KL until dinner.
Lowyat, to be exact. Yes, I confess I like window shopping. (What else did I not put on my website?)
As I drove out from the parking lot of Sunway College, I thought of getting my teeth done. God must have impressed this into my mind. If not, then I couldn't have thought of it. I decided to drive straight there instead of making a detour to my room to drop off my computer, digital camera and tripod. And to exchange my leather shoe for sports.
Dr Priscilla Chan, the dentist, my dentist friend from SU day, told me she had three appointed this afternoon. But when I arrived, I was the only one there. Not counting the nurses.
I asked for her, she came out, I told her she lost weight, she said no, I said she's beginning to look more like her mother, she asked when we last met, I said many years ago, she said when she was pregnant, I said no, blah blah blah.
I registered myself upon her instruction. Paid RM1. Wrote my contact information. Signed my teeth away - giving permission to Dr Chan to do as she pleased with my enamel.
Sat down in the dreaded chair for the first time in umpteen years. That's since 1985. Form one. She checked my teeth, mumbled some numbers with technical jargon to her handsome, well-built, masked assistant.
When she completed her visual examination, I told her she hadn't seen all. She only saw the inner side, not those covered by my lips. So she checked and said those will require quite major work.
Her assistant inserted two tubes into my mouth - one with water gushing out, and the other sucking the water out. She polished my stained teeth. Then cleaned my exposed teeth like she was cleaning a wall with a jet of water. It hurt when the water hit the sensitive parts. No pain, no gain?
Some kind of glue was squirted onto my exposed teeth followed by some kind of quick drying cement. After a few seconds, it hardened. She did some scraping to remove the excess plus smoothen the rough cement. She tells me it'll take a few brushings to polish it.
I had Old Town white coffee and chicken rendang for dinner. They didn't stain the cement. And yes, it still feels rough after brushing it once.
Positive experience at the hands of a good doctor makes you feel more comfortable enough to consider a second visit when necessary.
So, if you need a good and very affordable teeth job, go look for Dr Priscilla Chan at Pusat Kesihatan Komuniti Tanglin. Make sure you ask specifically for her. If not, then you will be at the mercy of the other dentist...
