All I Want For My Christmas Is My Front Teeth

I remember there is a Christmas song by Agnes Chan that goes something like this: All I want for my Christmas is my two front teeth.

Oh yeah, I want my front teeth too. I have lost so many of my upper teeth that it reminds me of some of Sarawak’s forests…barren with only a few trees standing.

My upper gum which has been swollen for the last few days seem to have worsened today. I had bought some antibiotics from a pharmacy when the swelling started a few days ago as taking antibiotics had proven to be effective in the past. But the antibiotics has not been effective this time round. I walked across the street to Dr Baru’s clinic near my office but the clinic was closed for Christmas holidays. Making my way back to the office, I decided to make a call to Dr Nguam who happened to be one year my junior at Kai Chung Middle School in Binatang (now known as Bintangor). A recorded telephone message informed me that the clinic is closed till January 2012. Undeterred, I made another call to the clinic of Dr Aziz. I told the receptionist that I need to see Dr Aziz soonest. The receptionist asked me to hold on while she did some checking. Then she told me that she could fix me an appointment…..yippie! Hold on, the appointment can only be scheduled for February 2012! Oh, gosh! What a joke!

Feeling frustrated, I decided to try out Dr Ho based on the recommendation of a colleague. Arriving at his clinic just shortly before the scheduled appointment time, I was feeling a bit apprehensive as I have a bad experience with a dentist in Miri a couple of years ago. Dr Nguam and Dr Aziz are the most well known dentists in Miri and I have full confidence in their skills. I have been to the clinics of Dr Nguam and Dr Aziz and have always marveled at how well their businesses are doing despite their much higher charges. There are always people waiting for their turns to see the dentists. But when I arrived at Dr Ho’s clinic, I was the only person waiting to see Dr Ho.

Dr Ho was out for lunch and only arrived at the clinic about 15 minutes after the scheduled appointment time. After checking my gum, he informed me that the infection in my gum had affected the nerves. He asked me for my decision – whether to extract the teeth or to preserve the teeth through a root canal treatment. Without hesitation, I opted for the root canal treatment. I did not to lose one more of my front upper teeth.

He proceeded to give me a couple of injections on my gum. After the anesthesia had taken effect, he made some incision on my gum and also drilled a hole in the teeth on the swollen gum area. There was quite a bit of bleeding and when I rinsed my mouth, I could see some clotted blood as well as a lot of fresh blood. Giving me 2 different types of antibiotics, he reminded me to finish them. And he told me that if I have delayed seeking treatment for a couple more days, I could have ended up with swollen cheek and eye once the infection spreads. I must say that I find Dr Ho to be quite good.

I will need to go back next week for a root canal treatment and to have my teeth fitted with a crown. Honestly, the root canal treatment sounds a bit intimidating.  And the treatment is going to cost me a bomb!

Let's be honest...doesn't this picture make root canal treatment seem a bit scary?