O Lodd!

Everyone has one. Here's my dentist horror story....

Mine asked me to take an x-ray after which he announced that my wisdom teeth are still inside my gums. He said they haven't grown out yet and that I was only 75% wise! He then proceeded to cackle at his own bad joke.

This dentist is a Gujju, a tall, slim man, and goes by the name of Lodd Mahindra. When I was first referred to him by someone over the phone, I thought it was Lord Mahindra. That did it, I decided I had to meet this Indian Lord...my curiosity had peaked.

As typical of demonic dentists, his prognosis was that I was due for a root canal...probably one of the worst traumas a patient has to undergo in that horrid dentist's chair. Doc Lodd got his co-consultant to do a root canal on me while he sat and watched the entire event.

By then, I had turned into a screaming banshee, so I gather it was worth watching. But it turned out the root canal operation (literally) was a half done job. Apparently, my tooth had not been "capped". This was over 6 months ago.

In the last few months, the damn thing has been aching till kingdom come so I went to another dentist. I never saw his face 'cause from the moment I entered his room, he had a face mask on...am not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing...Anyway, this doc said the root canal needed further work and was incomplete. The same week I got a call from Dr. Lodd's clinic "inviting" me to come for the 2nd part of the root canal treatment, i.e., "capping the tooth".

I informed them that the *&#^% root canal was SIX months ago. The receptionist said they had gone through their "root canal patients record" and discovered that only the 1st stage had been done for me.

So I went back recently and Doc Lodd "sawed" my tooth in half so that the "cap" would fit. It was seriously brutal. My poor tooth is barely visible now. He then gave me the two available options for the "cap". A stainless steel cap or a white ceramic one. 1800 bucks for the former and 3500 bucks for the latter. On hearing this, my mouth fell open and I'm sure so did half of my teeth (of the few that are remaining). Doc Lodd laughed like an evil maniacal doc in a horror film.

I made enquiries about both options in detail. According to him, both were equally good as far as protecting the (half shorn) tooth was concerned. However, for "cosmetic" purposes, people prefer the white ceramic ones these days.

Since the tooth in question is the last molar in the upper corner of my jaw, I wondered if it would even be seen. Especially now that there was only a semblance of my old tooth left post his drilling and sawing. To which he replied that if I was at a party and people take pics of me smiling or laughing, the flash would actually reflect off the shiny stainless steel tooth and everyone would know I have a stainless steel tooth!! That statement apparently was supposed to be the clincher and punchline that would end the dilemma of stainless steel vs ceramic in a jiffy.

He won and I lost. Next thing I knew before i could open my eyes again, he had made a model of my teeth by sticking some godawful icky stuff inside my mouth, called a mould. It had chewing gum all over it. Or so it seemed.

I will soon be poorer in pocket by 3500 bucks, all in pursuit of a capped tooth that looks exactly like my tooth. Its like you apply make up that looks so natural that it appears as though you haven't applied any make up at all.

What a crazy world we live in. Fascinating no doubt. Particularly for dentists who have fun at the expense of their patients!