The Dentist

U V Kini

I always had a problem with my teeth. I have been visiting the

dentist since I was little. My dentist visits were usually for filling
cavities or for extraction of molars. My first dentist was Dr. Mohan
Nayak of Mangalore. I am not going to extol his virtues here,
because everyone knows that he is second to none. Both his sons
are dental surgeons. Krishna has become more famous than his
dad.

As a kid, I was more scared of the Local Anesthetic injection than of

the extraction. I was notorious for jumping off the chair and
running out of the room when I saw the syringe. So Nayakmaam
used to come with his hand holding the syringe hidden behind his
back saying "kaain karna. kaain karna. Haave poloche maatra".
Then he would suddenly whip out his hand and jab the needle
inside my mouth. I swear I couldn't even see his hand move. Like
Doc Holliday of the American old Wild West, who was one of the
fastest guns at that time, I am sure Doc Nayak was the `fastest
syringe' in town. (Doc Holliday was originally a dentist.)

(Note: Even now I find the LA very irritating. The irritation of the LA
injection remains with you for at least two days. The dentist jabs
the needle very deep into your gums on either side of your tooth.
After the effect of the LA wears off, the places where the needle was
jabbed, keep irritating you.)

I have been to many dentists. There was one in Mangalore who was
very clumsy. While examining my teeth he used to put all the
fingers of his hands in my mouth and would almost smother me in
the process. Then he would bring his face very near my mouth and
peer inside. If my mouth was a little bigger, he would probably
have put his head inside too.
 The Dentist
U V Kini

When I shifted to Goa, I used to go to a dentist who would assign

his assistant (a qualified dentist) to me. She was a pretty little
thing who was good at her work. I used to love it when she would
put her dainty little fingers in my mouth. I was unmarried at that
time. It was the first time a grown up pretty woman had put her
fingers in my mouth! I used to be sorry when the session was over.

I now go to a young dentist who has set up his clinic recently. He is

a devout Roman Catholic and on the table next to his chair, his
bible is always open. I guess he reads it between patients. After
each patient leaves, he puts away the used instruments for cleaning
and then cleans and wipes the instrument tray with gauze dipped
in disinfectant. Then he wipes the drill, the blower and other
instruments before getting to work on another patient. He changes
his rubber gloves also. I said to him "Emerico, you are the first
dentist I have seen who does this (disinfection) so meticulously". He
said "If I did not take proper care of my patients, would God forgive
me?" I thought, "Wow man, we need more doctors like you".
Whatever is his sense of social/civic responsibility or his fear of
purgatory, it is patients like us who are benefited. With so many
diseases lurking and so many carriers around, I have made this
man my family dentist. Like Doc Holliday would have said "Hey
pardner, I aint taking no chances"

Halvas are very tasty. But wheat halvas are difficult to eat. If the
halvas are not done perfectly, you will have to masticate and
masticate until your jaws ache. This is the case with banana halvas
also. They are very sticky too. Sticky enough to pull out the dental
fillings in your teeth.

There is a story of a company, which used to serve halvas during

Annual General Meetings. Promoters / Directors of a company
usually control majority of the shares, while some shares are
 The Dentist
U V Kini

allotted to outsiders. People holding even one share have a right to

attend and ask questions at the AGM which the Directors find
irritating. Nevertheless they smile through clenched teeth and
answer the questions. Retired old men would usually attend the
meetings and ask questions. So to shut them up, the management
hit upon a plan. They bought toughest halva available and served
large pieces of it to the shareholders. The business of the meeting
was conducted when the shareholders were busy eating.

The Chairman said I would now welcome any questions from the
shareholders.

But these poor old men were struggling to free their teeth /
dentures from the grip of the halva in their mouth.

Poor old man no 1 mmmmphf !??

Poor old man no 2 nnnnngh ?!
Poor old man no 3 click clickety clickety click?!!??!! (rattling of
the dentures in his mouth).

By the time they negotiated the piece of halva, the Secretary was
proposing the Vote of Thanks.

Thats about the lighter side, now lets talk about something
serious.

I cannot say whether all dentists are so caring like the one I
mentioned in Part 1. First of all, they are so busy attending to
patients one after another, that I dont know whether they have the
time or inclination to do the disinfecting. The instruments that the
dentists put in your mouth are required to be disinfected in the
autoclave. Many viruses or germs cannot be killed easily. The
 The Dentist
U V Kini

autoclave is a device, which uses steam to disinfect the

instruments. Water in this vessel is heated to about 250 degree
Fahrenheit and should be maintained for at least 15 minutes to kill
the germs. It uses a lot of electricity. Some may not be inclined to
use it regularly because of the high cost of power. In some remote
areas, the power fluctuations may also prevent the dentist from
using it.

With dentists who have a well-established practice, you dont have

to worry. They employ a lot of assistants who take care of the
cleaning. A dentist needs to invest a lot of money on the
instruments. A set of at least 3 or 4 instruments (not counting the
instrument tray and impression tray) is used on each patient. If a
dentist sees a minimum of 30 patients each day, he has to invest in
many sets. Or he has to autoclave the used instruments at regular
intervals during the day.