When Mr. Legg walked into the room to say hello to little Amy and Lewis this morning as their mummy was on the chair, I saw their faces lit up like lightbulbs being switched on a dark winter morning.

Lewis said with a bright smile on his face, 'Hello again!'

:) no I'm not exaggerating, its true.

And it warmed my heart, very much so. Its so refreshing to see no fear at all for once, no crying, no kicking, no screaming. Just pure and innocent pleased faces, pleased to see the dentist the children loved.


We deal with so much pain, so much fear on the 'chair' that it is sometimes very discouraging.

Just last week I had to deal with a very emotional patient on my chair. Ian needed 6 teeth extracted on his lower arch alone, due to being extremely broken down.

We have both been dreading the day when it has to be done, and when we actually got down to it, I mustered every bit of courage in me, in order to give Ian the confidence he needed to get thru this trauma.

We were both brave throughout the whole procedure which took abit more than an hour.

Ian joked, I laughed. I joked, Ian laughed. We tried to keep the atmosphere in Oral Surgery as relaxed as possible.

When it was all over, we both had nothing left in us to continue the forced 'cheerfulness'. I fitted Ian's denture, and bade him goodbye. He thanked me, and thanked me again.

Although deep in me I know this extractions will benefit him long term, I couldnt find it in myself to feel the sense of achievement. To feel like I did something good.
Even after Dr. Ali gave me all Excellents for the first time, all I felt was a certain numbness.

Numbness which turned into a deep set sorrow in my heart.

My sorrow deepened when Ian came back the next day, looking so forlorn and traumatised. The stress of it all has built up and consumed him, the stress of his personal problems plus the stress of losing that amount of teeth and having to wear a piece of plastic in his mouth, not being able to eat very well, and the wires digging in constantly.

He apologised countless times for being a 'nuisance'.

I told him he didnt owe me an apology. He had been through a lot.

And felt like crap afterwards for being partly a reason for his discomfort, with good reasons. He wasnt used to wearing a denture, and no new denture wearer will be completely happy with the piece of plastic no matter how perfect. Nothing is better than your own teeth, I always tell my patients.

Ian has been the best patient i had so far, he's such a lovely person.

His visits always results in bouts of laughter from ayesha and myself, tutors wil turn and look at us, asking us if there is a 'party' going on in our bay. Treatment is complicated for his case, he needs lots of work, but he's always so tolerant, always so cheery.

I wonder if its going to be a downhill road from now on.

It depresses me, what dentistry can and cannot do sometimes.



I hope at the end of this long and bumpy road, Ian will get the set of perfectly functional and reasonably aesthetic teeth we have been planning to get him. :)

Focus on the long term, Pei Lian, focus.