My Life 2 My Visit to Dentist

  Just after the summer vacation started, I experienced a toothache.  I looked into my mouth, but couldn't find any decayed teeth.  Then my mother examined my teeth and said that I had got a wisdom tooth in.

  It is called oyashirazu in Japanese, because wisdom teeth come in in early adulthood, sometimes after one's parents have passed away in the times the people had a shorter life expectancy.

  Nowadays more and more people enjoy increased longevity because of improved health care, and so wisdom teeth come in while one's parents are still alive.

  It's so in Japanese, but I don't know why it is called a wisdom tooth in English.  I think we should ask one of the American teachers of English at our university.

 

 Anyway, my toothache persisted and that was my first experience of a toothache.  I decided to go to the dentist.  I called the dentist in my neighborhood and got an appointment on one Tuesday morning."

  That was not my first visit to the dentist.  When I was a little child before attending school, my mother often took me to another dentist to have my teeth checked.

 

  Also when I was an elementary and junior high student, a dentist and a dental assistant came to our schools once a year and checked our teeth.

   I remember that, while the dentist checked our teeth, he or she dictated to the dental assistant who made notations on our individual charts.

  We could often hear the dentist say, "C1, C2, C3, . .," which is short for saying cavity 1, cavity 2, cavity 3 . . .  

  After our examination was completed the dentist would either advise us to go to see our dentist if we have any cavities or tell us that we have no cavities and congratulate us for a good check up.  

  I had no cavities throughout my school age. It's wonderful not to have any cavities.

 Having good healthy teeth is necessary for having good health.

 So this was my first visit to the dentist in many years.

  First I went to the receptionist and gave her my insurance card.  She asked me my address and phone number.  Since this was my first visit to the dentist, I had to pay the first visit fee of 700 yen at first.  

  Then she gave me a patient identification card, shinsatsuken in Japanese.  When I tried to explain in English about shinsatsuken, I couldn't find a proper English word. I called one of my uncles who had lived in the United States and in Germany, and asked him what shinsatsuken is called in English.

  He said that, as far as he knows, there is no such kind of thing as shinsatsuken in the countries where he lived, and suggested that a 'patient identification card' or a 'patient registration card' might be a proper translation.  

  So I adopted the former.  

 

  After waiting for a few minutes, when my appointment time came, I was called into the examination room.  

  There are three dental chairs in the examination room.  I was asked to climb into one of the dental chairs.  A young female dentist came up to the chair with a patient card and asked me what was the matter.  I told her that I had had a wisdom tooth and that it had caused pain. "

  The dentist then turned on the operating light and began to examine my teeth with a dental mirror.  She told me that very little plaque had collected on the surface of my teeth and that I had good healthy teeth.  

  Then she advised me that it was better to remove the wisdom tooth if it caused pain.  I agreed to her advice.  

  She then asked the dental assistant to take an X-ray of my wisdom tooth to check how deep the roots were.

 

  I went to the X-ray room and had my wisdom tooth X- rayed.  I had to wait for a few minutes for the X-ray to be developed before I returned to the dental chair.

  The dentist showed me the X-ray picture.  I could see that the wisdom tooth had only one root. The dentist explained that the wisdom tooth in the upper jaw usually has only one root, that the one in the lower jaw usually has two roots, and that the upper one is easier to extract.  I felt relieved to hear that.

  After some preparation, the dentist started to operate on my wisdom tooth.  First she anesthetized the local area of the wisdom tooth.  She injected the gum to deaden the nerves around the wisdom tooth.  

  When the gum around the wisdom tooth was completely numb, she removed the wisdom tooth with an extractor.  It took about five minutes for her to remove my wisdom tooth.  I felt a little pain, but it was bearable.

  She then filled the hole left after my wisdom tooth had been removed, and placed some gauze in the space to stop the bleeding.  The operation was over.  

  When I felt with the tip of my tongue the area where my wisdom tooth had been, it felt very hollow.

  I climbed down from the dental chair and thanked the dentist for the painless operation.  She asked me to come back for disinfection and a check up after two days.

  When I came back after two days, she examined the area where my wisdom tooth had been and said everything was OK.  

  I hope I haven't become less wise owing to the removal of my wisdom tooth.