Dentistry and Root Canal

Make no mistake about it — I love dentists.

There are dentists I know who truly demonstrate what kindness and caring are all about. They go way past their line of duty to ensure that their patients are treated to the best of their ability. But this man was not one of them. Suave, liking the good things in life — the Mercedes parked below his clinic attested to that — he clearly regarded dentistry as a means to an end: just one more way to make good living—patients be damned.

My antennae should have been up when one day he took me over to see a plate he was working on. “This belongs to X,” he said, naming one of India’s most powerful corporate chieftains, a man as respected as he was private. “Look how he gnashes his teeth and how he has worn away his molars. In medical terms it’s called bruxism,” he said casually.

Now this was clearly out of line, and a serious breach of the Hippocratic oath. To divulge the name of a patient with details of his medical condition— especially to a journalist was shocking, but I let it pass. Obviously he wanted to impress me with his A-list clientele – and he had.

But all this was far from my mind when I called him up one afternoon to tell him I was in great pain— a filling he had done after extensive root canal work had dislodged itself overnight.

The pain was excruciating. His secretary asked me to call an hour later — he was with a patient. Knowing he would be leaving his clinic shortly I decided to drop in and show him what had happened. I hoped that he would do a patch up job until my next appointment. I just needed a quick fix or a reassuring word. That’s all. The panic was that in half-an-hour I had to be present at Breach Candy to wait while a friend was operated on under general anesthesia. My presence was mandatory— I was going to be the only person present outside the OT.

So with all this on my mind and with an aching jaw I arrived at his clinic and saw to my relief that my dentist was lounging around with a couple of friends in his cabin. He looked dismayed to see me. His secretary asked that I return another day. “But I’m in pain,” I whimpered. “And I can see he’s free. All I need him to do is look at what’s gone wrong.”

But the message he sent out was that he did not encourage people to turn up without appointments — no matter what. And he continued lounging around. Now I could understand if he’d had a patient and did not see me. Even so I’d known dentists who’d popped out, had a look, and done a quick fix just to give urgent relief. But this one continued to sit on his high horse on a matter of spurious principle when a patient of his was in pain…

At that moment something snapped. I knocked on his door while he sat casually shooting the breeze with his chums. “You should be ashamed of yourself,” I said to him before turning on my heel and walking out. On my way out I noticed that my teeth were gnashing. That’s when it occurred to me that India’s leading corporate czar was probably gnashing his teeth not in spite of — but because of — his dentist!

Root Canal