The Fear of Student Dentists.

So........thanks to a particularly hard Midget Gem I was back at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital today for an appointment with a 'Student' Dentist to look at my 'half-missing tooth.Roxy is not well.....again.......and took some time to get going but she got me there slightly early. There was no queue to see the receptionist but I had to wait for her attention as another woman behind the desk was in the middle of telling her something she clearly was not interested in but she could not tear herself away from her as she was a work colleague, albeit a most annoying one, and she had to face her every day.Eventually she escaped and I told her I had an appointment for 1.30.pm. I flashed my almost extinct pension concession card and took a seat in the waiting room.I did not have to watch 'The Guardian' on the TV screen too long before a voice said"Nicholas Allen to Surgery 7 please."The number 7 is quite a lucky number so I was quite pleased about that.There were two women in Surgery 7, welders masks at the ready on their heads. The youngest, she looked about 16, introduced herself and the other woman but their names flew straight in one ear and out of the other as I was still getting to grips with the schoolgirl before me." I am a final year student and this is my supervisor are you OK with that?""Well, I will trust that you have listened to all your lectures very carefully," I said."She's very good," mouthed the supervisor silently."If you will just sign this form," said the student handing me a clipboard."Is this so you won't be blamed for my death?" I asked.The student laughed nervously.I was lowered backwards. She checked some details, they had my date of birth wrong. She asked when I had last been there. I couldn't remember."Was it this year or last year?""I think it was last year" I said......(but thinking about it now it must have been this year.)She peered in my mouth and prodded about with pointy hook thing like real dentists do."I just want to test if the tooth is still alive because quite a lot of it is missing," she said."Still alive?" I repeated slightly bewildered.The woman supervisor sprayed something onto n implement that she was holding that I could not see."This might feel a bit cold," she said........"Can you feel that?"I shook my head slightly."I'll try on the other side." The Supervisor sprayed again and she touched the teeth on the other side of my mouth."Did you feel anything?" She asked after removing the implement."No," I said."We'll try your front teeth." More spraying, and touching of teeth but still no feeling."Does that mean all my teeth are dead?" I asked a bit concerned."No," she laughed.A young Asian man came in. She explained the situation to him, that I could not feel anything in the 'cold test' and what she was going to do.......I heard she mentioned removing the existing amalgam before refilling it.Oh No! That surely meant a Student Dentist using drills!The young Asian man left."He is also my supervisor."Heck! She needed two supervisors."He doesn't look old enough to be a supervisor," I said."Oh, he is and has many years practise working in this hospital," she said. "Have you reacted badly to anaesthetic in the past?""No," I saidShe numbed my gums with a gel before getting in there with a needle and despite her saying "You may feel a pinch" , I never felt a thing.She cleaned around the area with that awful sonic water jet thing while my mouth went numb and then got stuck into the drilling without even warning me about it.The young Asian Supervisor came back to see how she was going."Unfortunately...." It was an alarming choice of word....." I have discovered another cavity," she told him "and, with the patient's permission, I would like to deal with that first, before proceeding with the main restoration." she said.He gave her the go ahead and left."I have noticed another cavity that needs filling on the neighbouring tooth. Are you happy for me to fill that for you as well?"Heck! This was becoming much more involved than I had expected, firstly with the appearance of anaesthetic needles and drills and now the prospect of more drilling...........I didn't want it at all but shortly I will not have the benefit of my pension concession card and dental work will become very expensive........"Oh, go for it!" I said.There was more drilling but thankfully it all passed painlessly.I got a tickle in my throat at one point and had to stop her to cough and have a drink of water.It seemed quite a fiddle for her to get the first filling finished off properly and then she started on 'The Big One' as she referred to it." I need you to keep your mouth wide open for this one," she said as she was screwing some metal attachment around the broken tooth.My mouth must have been open for about 45 minutes by the time it was all over it was very dry. It took ages for her to drill the tooth down so that it fitted smoothly with my bottom set. I had to bite on some carbon paper and grind my teeth from side to side and then she would go back and drill the tooth down some more.I was just about to say, "Oh, that will do now it feels fine," when she started to polish it.It was all done and the young Asian Supervisor came back to check her work and said"Does it feel OK? If you have any problems you know where we are."I thanked the Student Dentist......she had done well but I was glad it was all over." How was it for you?" I asked.She laughed, "Quite tricky," she said."Do I need to go back to the desk?" I asked."No, you can just leave now," she said.I was in there for over an hour......it cost me nothing!