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Candlelight root canal

Some people fear sharks. Others are afraid of flying or losing their job. I love to dive and seeing sharks under water causes a pleasant prickling und my skin. Flying just bores me and life without a steady job is a bit of a fancy fantasy for me. On the other hand, just hearing the word "dentist" gives me the shivers. I am phobic. It’s psychological. Childhood related. Unfortunately, knowing all that doesn't make the phobia go away.

A root canal is the Great White of dental procedures. A few months ago I had an appointment with an Endodontist at the Bangkok Hospital. In the morning of the big day I said goodbye to my wife and my daughter, not sure I would ever see them again. I spear you details of the psychological pain I went through and jump right to the juicy bit. The action stuff - when the shark stops circling you and moves right towards you.

About the time when all the drilling was done and the dentist started to clean the pulp chamber and the root canals, the lights over my chair went off. Sudden silence. Power failure. For a second everything was quiet. Then the back-up generators kicked in and the sounds came back. Not the light above me though. I heard the beeping of the PC in the treatment room booting up again. Drill power was back and the saliva sucker was working. While waiting for city power to come back my dentist did try to go ahead without the lamp, but soon gave up. He just couldn't see enough. Then he asked the nurse to find a flash light! Also no luck. After a few long minutes he decided to put in a temporary filling and asked me to come back the following day to continue.

Wow. My emotions were going wild. The great feeling of having survived the drilling part of the root canal and the shocker that I had to come back the following day. I promised myself that I would bring a candle, just in case, next time. Or a flashlight.

The story has a happy ending. I did survive the next couple of visits and my tooth is fine again. Giving this whole experience a positive spin, we know now that the dental clinic at the Bangkok Hospital has a working back-up power system and the dentist told me during the next visit that the operation lamp had now also been connected. It had just been an oversight. Before I forget it, the root canal was thanks to a generous dose of Novocain and the gentle professionalism of my dentist a completely painless experience. Obviously I am only talking about physical pain. My psychological suffering continues. Just writing these few lines has given me sweaty palms again.

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