Dental Work in the Time of Corona

Two Thursday’s ago I headed into the dentists for what was supposed to be my final appointment after a phenomenal run of dental work over the past 6 months:

• 4 extractions (two of which were the stuff of nightmares)

• 2 root canals

• 3 porcelain inlays

• 7 fillings.

I’d awoken that morning to more WhatsApp notifications of departures from Hanoi, Twitter notifications of chaos and panic hashtags all over the place. Just a regular start to each day. 

I had somehow in the chaos of “do I stay or do I go?” managed to run synchronous and asynchronous Language and Literature lessons before jumping on my red scooter and heading off for my final dental appointment. 

Well, I normally require a fair bit of coping strategies at the dentist and Dr Arne is well aware of my internal panic – my shaking hands and robotic movements are a dead giveaway. This particular day, I thought I was doing OK and was calmer than usual as I knew this was my last major appointment. 

Anyway, 1 hour into the procedure after the 3 inlays had been inserted and Dr Arne was up to my second last filling I got a fright when one of the instruments simply touched the back of my mouth. 

Well, before I knew what I was doing I had grabbed Dr Arne’s hand (while he had an instrument in there) and my other hand was clenched into a fist and about to punch him in the face. Oh boy! I realised what I was doing and quickly let go and unclenched my fist.

Let’s just say we had to quickly finish up the filling and I had to do some grounding exercises. And for everyone’s safety, we had to reschedule the last filling. Sigh. It turns out the calm feeling I had was simply a survival numbness.

I had not realised just how tightly wound I was and how internalised the stress of the constant bombardment of CoVid-19 crazy had become. It had literally reached a point where I attacked an innocent dentist just doing his job.

So, I jumped on my red scooter and somehow managed to make it home. Thankfully Tay Ho traffic is very quiet these days. 

Yesterday, we wrapped up my final appointment and I was thrilled to get through the appointment without attacking Dr Arne. Needless to say, I was sitting on my hands the entire time.