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Dental CareBy Moribayashi
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Seigaku Junior High Boys Tennis Club.
Practise had been harder for the past three days. So many club members were doomed to running more laps than the dosage the daily training required. As a result, practise was becoming inefficient since the boys lost their energy, and therefore were unable to meet the usual training standard. The situation seemed to have taken its toll today, where Momoshiro, being the usual culprit for loud-mouthing on the court (like he could help it, it was in his genes!), was sentenced to run 60 laps. Kikumaru followed right away, being the one throwing a silly joke at Momoshiro. Both regulars were now carrying out their punishments quietly under the fierce glare of their captain: Tezuka the almighty.
Stealing a quick glance at the captain, Fuji's friendly visage was marred by a slight crease between his brows. Tezuka had been acting differently since the start of the week. Like he was having constant bad hair days or something. Being a good friend, it was only natural that Fuji felt the need to find out what was bothering the other boy. Who knew, it could be useful for blackmailing purposes.. Nah, Fuji was sincere this time, and that was exactly what he was proving when he decided to confront Tezuka at the first 10 minutes break.
"Ne, Tezuka," Fuji began in a sweet, friendly tone.
Looking up from his status report, Tezuka shot him an annoyed look. "What do you want, Fuji?"
"Nothing," hands behind his back, the smaller boy replied easily. "Just asking if everything is okay with you."
"I'm okay."
"Ahh, I see," Fuji nodded, but remained in his place.
"What?" Tezuka growled again.
"Maa, just wanna make sure, though. I mean, your shoulders look a bit tense. Did something bad happen?"
Frown intensified, Tezuka repeated, "Fuji. I'm okay."
"Mou… it's just me, Tezuka. You know you can tell me anything. After all, we're-"
"I said I'm okay!"
Deep aquamarine eyes flew open for a second before they were closed again. The snappy answer left Fuji stunned, but his smiley face was back in place the next second. "Sorry… just asking…" hands remained on his back, the prodigy slowly backed away, while musing inwardly.
Something was definitely wrong here.
Plan A not working, Fuji quickly switched to Plan B, which was less risky than having to face a barking mad do- err, captain.
"Inui, what do you think is the cause of Tezuka's foul mood recently?" he asked the data tennis player during their last 10 minutes break.
Whipping open his notebook, Inui began reading his figures.
"Compared to last month's practise result, this month's result doesn't show any sign of decrease. On the contrary, the percentage among the non-regulars has risen up to 11.7 percent, while among the regulars is reaching 22.5 percent. In conclusion, the possibility of practise as the one upsetting Tezuka is 0.00 percent," finished with the data, Inui closed the green notebook.
Gazing at the faraway trees, the spiky haired boy fell into deep contemplation. "It should be something else, Fuji," fixing his glasses back to his nose, Inui quietly stated.
Upon hearing the explanation, Fuji fell silent. The usual smile faded, it was now replaced by a deep frown.
Unbeknownst to his two teammates, Tezuka realized that he had been a little too hard on the boys. When everyone else had gone home and he was alone in the clubhouse, the boy dropped his stone-cold visage. Putting on a sour face, he reached up to touch his left cheek carefully, and grimaced. Dammit, it still hurt. That particular tooth, the third molar on his upper jaw. Despite all the efforts Tezuka had been doing for the past three days, the stinging pain wouldn't go away.
He had done everything his mother told him, ranging from brushing his teeth thoroughly 3 times a day, washing his mouth with antiseptic liquid after every meal, to consuming only extra soft chicken porridge the last two days since he began having trouble chewing. Tezuka had even gone so far as taking his grandfather's old recipe to chew on some herbal leaves (which tasted almost like Inui juice, by the way, but the stoic boy was too desperate to spit it back out). Yet the pain remained stubbornly there, making Tezuka itchy to just grab a pincer and pulled out the damn tooth himself to end his misery.
Well, okay. Maybe he hadn't been entirely honest to himself.
It was true, that Tezuka had tried every way possible to ease the toothache. However, there was one way that he avoided at any rate; it was visiting the dentist. Tezuka hated going to the doctor, the feeling that had developed ever since he was 5 years old. One day, little Kunimitsu-chan fell off the ground in a horse range belonged to his grandfather's best friend, where he earned himself several deep cuts and therefore was bound to have a tetanus injection. The feel of the sharp, cold needle mercilessly penetrating through the soft skin of his buttock, no matter how hard he had cried pleadingly to the doctor… it was such a traumatic experience.
The incident haunted the poor little boy for weeks. Until one night, Kunimitsu-chan had sworn to keep himself from getting sick no matter what, so that no ugly, grinning monster with pointy needles sticking out all over its body could ever eat up his little butt anymore.
So you see, there was no way Tezuka Kunimitsu would ever visit a doctor; or in this case, a dentist.
-.-.-.-.-
He didn't realize it at first.
But that afternoon, something enlightened Fuji. It wasn't obvious enough for people to see, but it was there; the faint bulge on Tezuka's left cheek, a bit to the upper jaw. He had been secretly observing that particular spot, like a cat eyeing its prey. And when he finally caught sight of Tezuka lifting up his hand to carefully touch the said bulge (of course, when the stoic captain thought no one was looking) the prodigy knew his speculation had turned into fact.
No way…!
Slits of brilliant aquamarine orbs revealed, Fuji's grin now matched that of a Cheshire cat's.
-.-.-.-.-
It was a horrible night.
What with the stinging pain attacking his molar, Tezuka could barely close his eyes. He whimpered in his bed, feeling frustrated. It was only a tiny little tooth, but it was able to make his body ache all over, as if someone had beaten the shit out of him with a baseball bat. And the fact that he had to skip dinner only made things worse, for his stomach kept grumbling in protest. Tezuka scowled bitterly. As if it wasn't already hard to move his upper jaw to speak!
Later that night, his mother came to check up on him.
"How are you feeling, Kunimitsu?" she asked softly, smoothing her son's hair with cool, soothing hand.
Letting out a weak grunt, for it was all he could do in his current state, Tezuka remained lying on his bed. Closing his eyes, the boy was trying so hard to hide the pain.
His mother sighed at the stubbornness.
"Kunimitsu, why don't you go visit the dentist tomorrow? I'll arrange it with the clinic to get the gentlest doctor, and come along with you. Alright, dear?"
Receiving no reply, she resigned to tugging his blanket and kissed his temple.
"Go to sleep now. Tomorrow, we're going to make the pain go away."
-.-.-.-.-
So here he was, sitting quietly on his chair at the waiting room in the dental clinic. Tezuka was glad he had turned down his mother's offer to accompany him in the instant he entered the clinic; the waiting room was painted in cheerful colours, the furniture was just as bright, and he wasn't sure whether to squint or glare at the innocent stuffed-animals sitting at the coffee tables on the two corners.
Okay. His mother might understand his childhood trauma very well, but Tezuka felt the urge to turn around and check if he had accidentally entered a paediatric clinic.
Nope. All the signage showed that he was in the right place; it was really a family dental clinic.
Tezuka decided that he didn't want to know how in the world his mother could find a place this weird.
Still, the cheerful surrounding couldn't do much to lessen his nervousness, which was hidden skillfully behind his 24/7 stoic façade. Tezuka was trying to convince himself that it was indeed the gentlest dentist he was going to face (which wasn't so hard to believe anyway, looking at the childish decoration). That it was his tooth that was aching and not some deep cuts on his legs so there was no need for a tetanus injection, and therefore he had absolutely no business with a needle. Or in this case, anything made of steel that was tiny and slim and sharp and evil.
Right. Just whom was he kidding here?
"Sho, you shee, it only takesh a coupla daysh to finish a whole new setsh. You can only find the servish here, that'sh what I like about thish clinic…" the moment the voice reached his ears, Tezuka blinked open his sore eyes. He had been sitting here for almost an hour. Letting out an almost subtle sigh, the stoic boy maintained his polite, attentive posture as the old man next to him continued rambling excitedly (?) about his dental problem. Apparently, the old man lost almost all his teeth and replaced them with the fake ones.
Too bad, when he was playing with his little grandson, the child kicked his soccer ball a little too excitedly so that it went straight to his grandfather's face and broke all the front teeth. Now he was at the clinic to get a new set of fake teeth.
Looking down at the floor, Tezuka tried to keep a neutral face. What with the rambling ojiisan, the whining little girl at the corner of the room, and the raging toothache he was suffering, those years full of high endurance spent on intensive tennis training was almost worth nothing. Tezuka could feel his patience wearing thin, and he prayed for all it was worth that his turn would come very, very soon.
When finally the door was opened and the nurse was calling his name, Tezuka rose from his seat almost instantly. Giving a polite nod to the old man once again, he walked towards the door, feeling relieved that his sanity had somehow remained intact. But only for a moment, as he heard the doctor's voice greet him, and Tezuka realized belatedly that he had actually gotten out of the lion's den, only to find himself standing in front of a pool full of hungry crocodiles.
Oh, how he could hear their strong, heavy jaws clasping excitedly.
-.-.-.-.-
The practise room.
It took the dentist several times of looking back and forth at both the patient and his medical status to make sure, that it was the correct 15 year-old boy she was attending and not some 34 year-old business man. Nodding politely, Tezuka hid his bitter face. He was used to getting that kind of reaction when people find out he was still a teenager.
"Tezuka…kun, right?" the dentist started, her voice calm and pleasant.
"Yes," Tezuka confirmed.
"Tell me, what is your tooth problem?"
Clearing his throat, Tezuka started explaining the pain he was suffering, as Aoi-sensei, the dentist, made notes on the status report. Then Aoi-sensei told him to sit on the dental unit as she washed her hands to put on the disposable rubber gloves and mask. Carefully placing himself on the machine, Tezuka dared to cast a glance at various slim, pointy metal apparatus lying neatly on the white cloth on the doctor table in front of him, and visibly blanched. If not for the constant hell he had been going through the past week, and the dignity that was threatening to crumble, Tezuka would've had surrendered to the urge of turning around and fleeing through the door.
But he was too late anyway, as the dentist was sitting on the stool next to him and adjusting the hydraulic seat, effectively blocking his only escape. So Tezuka had no choice but to steel himself for whatever torture that he would be going through. At the grim expression the patient was wearing, Aoi-sensei only smiled calmly, and told Tezuka to open his mouth.
Moving the small mirror around the side of Tezuka's mouth to get a better view of his bad tooth, the dentist raised her eyebrows. "Mmhm… I see," she murmured to herself, and pulled out the small mirror.
"Tezuka-kun, you're experiencing teeth decay."
Tezuka frowned at the statement.
"I'm sorry, but I don't understand, sensei. I brush my teeth at mornings and evenings, I rarely eat red meat and I don't consume sweets. How can I get tooth decay?"
"Teeth," Aoi-sensei corrected. "You got two molars decaying on your upper left row."
From the examination, it turned out that Tezuka had sensitive gum. The gum often bled when he was brushing his teeth, which he had taken for granted considering it was no hindrance. His Spartan brushing method wasn't exactly correct either, although it was always thoroughly done. As a result, there was a decline happening on his upper left gum, which caused a small gap to form between his two molars. The remains of food that stayed there had caused cavities. At this rate, the use of dental floss was no longer effective because it couldn't reach the gap that was getting wider and deeper. Since the decay was happening near the root of the molars, it quickly attacked the tooth nerves, and thus made Tezuka's life a living inferno.
"Then, is it possible to keep the molars?" Tezuka asked carefully. He seriously didn't want to lose any of his teeth before he got old, especially not his grinding-teeth. The prospect of having to use fake teeth was never appealing to him, especially not after his previous chat (?) with the old man.
"It depends on how far the decay has developed in your molars," Aoi-sensei replied honestly, "which we are about to find out now."
Having instructed the nurse to prepare for the treatment, the dentist then explained the procedures to her patient. She was well aware of this patient being scared of slim, pointy metal objects (as it was specifically mentioned by his mother), and idly thought that Tezuka-kun was indeed a 15-year-old teenage boy. Well, nothing like she hadn't seen before. Hiding her amused smile, she assured the said boy that everything was going to be alright and went on with the treatment.
Spraying chloride-ethyl onto a tiny cotton ball, Aoi-sensei applied it into the gap between the molars. The cold, stinging sensation in his teeth made Tezuka hiss in pain. Looking at the patient's spasmodic reaction, it was clear that the teeth were already in deep trouble. The dentist soon proceeded with cleaning the bad teeth of the stubborn remains of food, before moving on to the tooth filling.
Cold sweat was forming on Tezuka's forehead as a slim, pointy metal apparatus made its way into his opened mouth. The fearsome captain desperately tried to calm himself. When the cold, sharp evil came in contact with his aching tooth, Tezuka nearly jumped. He closed his eyes in order to regain composure, but instead was imagining things; like that ugly monster with pointy needles sticking out all over its body, grinning maliciously at him.
First method failing miserably, Tezuka opened his eyes and started looking for help from his surrounding. Anything to distract his mind from the on-going torture, and his gaze fell onto a little blue bunny and green turtle plushies hanging by the lamp at the top of the dental unit. He blinked at the stuffed animals, thinking that they probably served to help easing fear and building up courage on small children.
Well, whatever it was, the little plushies were successful in helping Tezuka distract his mind (not that he would ever admit it) from the on-going treatment because the next thing he knew, Aoi-sensei told him to wash his mouth with aquadest. The first stage of his dental treatment was done successfully. It didn't take long to clean the bad teeth, considering Tezuka hardly consumed anything but milk since morning.
Putting the cup back onto its place above the spittoon bowl, Tezuka leaned back onto the seat, as the dentist was preparing the amalgam.
"It's a good thing that you came here today, Tezuka-kun. If you had kept your bad teeth from the dentist any longer, you'll have to run a serious dental treatment for your molars," Aoi-sensei explained calmly, while Tezuka could only nod in a mix of apology and embarrassment.
"And I'm sure you wouldn't find the idea interesting, since it normally takes about 3 months to heal the roots in your molars," the dentist continued, making the stoic boy shuddered inwardly at the highly unappealing prospect.
"So how many times should I go back here until my teeth get better, sensei?" Tezuka dared to ask, while praying for Kamisama to spare him from further torments.
At the blanched expression the patient was unconsciously wearing, Aoi-sensei gently smiled. "Three more visits, I think, and your teeth will be okay," she replied as she readjusted the lamp on the dental unit. "Now, open your mouth, Tezuka-kun."
Squinting his eyes at the bright light sent directly into his pupils at the new angle, Tezuka could feel how the amalgam was being applied into the tiny hole in his teeth. Now that he had a slightly better acquaintance with several sharp, pointy metal objects that were traveling in and out of his mouth for the last 15 minutes, Tezuka felt a little at ease. The amalgam acted like cement closing a hole on a brick wall. It filled in the gap between his upper left molars to prevent further damage. The tin element in the material tasted weird, especially after Aoi-sensei used the spatula to press the amalgam deep into the gap. He had to admit that it felt almost funny, like chewing a liquid rock.
They were in the middle of doing the last phase of the dental treatment, and all was quiet when suddenly, Tezuka's stomach grumbled.
"Ara? Are you hungry, Tezuka-kun?" Aoi-sensei asked with concern, all the while trying to keep a normal expression. The nurse who was standing next to the dentist covered her mouth with her hand, as she involuntarily let out a giggle.
"Ngo… soi," Tezuka tried to answer amidst his mouth was hung open to give access for the dentist to polish his teeth. Face tinged in pink with embarrassment, he tried to keep his stoic façade.
"Well, don't worry. Once we're done with all this, you'll be able to eat again," the dentist replied, smiling knowingly.
Closing his eyes, Tezuka knew that he was doomed, silently thanking Kamisama that his mother wasn't here to witness all this. But the promise that he would be able to eat soon sounded nice enough, as it managed to lighten up his feeling. No matter how grown-up he looked like, Tezuka was still in his adolescence. A period where you need all the nutrition you can get in order to fully grow as an adult; a period where you can eat anything you want without having to worry about getting fat. So how was he supposed to make his stomach happy with only chicken porridge and milk?
-.-.-.-.-
All in all, the whole dental treatment took almost 45 minutes to complete. By the time Tezuka went home, he realized that the stinging pain wasn't there anymore. He was happy that he could finally have a nice dinner, after an hour given to solidify the amalgam in his teeth, as ordered by Aoi-sensei. Tezuka had to admit that visiting the dentist wasn't as horrible as he had thought, and although he still didn't approve of slim, pointy metal apparatus doing stuff in his mouth, he considered that he had at least overcome some part of his traumatic experience.
That evening, Tezuka slept like a baby, having a better perception towards dentists, or doctors in general.
-.-.-.-.-
Tennis practise in the morning.
What with the absence of the killing aura that had been haunting the tennis club as of late, Fuji assumed that Tezuka's mood had escalated onto a much better level, if not back to normal. The laps had also reduced to normal portion, and the boys were able to meet the usual standard in their performance. All of them must be due to the healing of Tezuka's source of misery.
"Chances of your thinking what I'm thinking… 97.8 percent," standing next to the prodigy, Inui supplied Fuji with his data. "The bulge in his cheek had reduced by 0.84mm. It'll be completely gone by the time the afternoon practise is over."
Fuji chuckled. "Saa, do you think practise is back to normal?"
"That will be 100 percent," Inui replied.
Sometime after the afternoon break, Fuji took the chance to standing next to his captain, who was observing the game behind the wire fence.
"Ne, Tezuka, you look fresh today," he greeted lightly.
"Hn."
"I take it whatever it was bothering you has gone," Fuji continued.
"Hn."
Fuji nodded, smiling cheerfully as usual. "That's good to hear."
"Echizen! Bend your knees when you catch that ball, or else you'll get cramp!" Tezuka shouted at one of the players on the court.
"Yes!" the first year regular replied, tugging his cap.
"Saa, I'd better get back to practise," patting his shoulder, Fuji was removing himself from the stoic captain's side.
But then he halted and cocked his head.
"Oh, by the way, Tezuka. Is your tooth okay now?"
-Owari-
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Mori's Notes:
Ojiisan : literally means grandfather, used to address an elderly man in general
Dental unit : a set of hydraulic machine consists of patient's seat, adjustable lamp, spittoon bowl and a small desk to put various dental apparatus
Chloride-ethyl : basically a skin painkiller, used to check the sensitivity of teeth
Aquadest : a liquid used for mouthwash at the spittoon bowl
Amalgam : an alloy of mercury with another metal usually tin/silver/gold used for dental fillings
If you think I wrote this as another means of torture for Tezuka, you got it wrong. It's a way of bracing myself towards the intensive dental treatment am gonna live through the next 3 months. I just hope that the dentist will be as patient and gentle as my future sis-in-law has promised me -I was originally referred to the handsome one, but this is my tooth we're talking abt, so safety should come first.
Neeway, if you find mistakes –especially on dental terms- please let me know. I don't go to med school, my future sis-in-law does, but most of her dental terms were Dutch adopted.
Hope you enjoyed the story! XD