Tuesday, August 23, 2011

The Mystery of the Missing Canine

She was at the dentist for her annual dental check up. Ever since 3 years of age she has been to the dentist, had her teeth worked on, filled, pulled, what not and now, as everyone was suggesting, the dentist also recommended, 'When she is about 15 years, she has to put braces on her teeth'. She rolled her eyes and knew that putting braces means pulling out 2-4 more teeth and lesser chocolates.

The dentist stopped for a few minutes, checked her teeth once again and was about to leave when he noticed something. 'Hey! One of your teeth is missing. The canine, on the top right side.' The doctor ushered her dad, and said, 'You see, those two are the incisors and then the pre-molars and molars, only 6 teeth on this side. The canines are missing. If it didn't grow out, it must be hidden within the gums. An X-ray should help us find out. Please take an X-ray and return after 3 days.'

'Oh God! Now what?' she thought. She knew that her teeth has always been giving her trouble, now a missing one? Is this an Enid Blyton book, 'The Mystery of the Missing Tooth'? Sounded good, now she had a story to tell and a mystery for the doctor to solve.

Three days later, they were back at the dentist after taking the X-ray. The doctor examined it and said, 'This is surprising. There is no teeth hidden in the gums. Things are safe. But I really do wonder what happened. Either you pulled your teeth out twice or the new tooth never developed. Which is a rarity. Anyways, I just wanted to ensure that things were safe for you. Good day!'

She heaved a sigh of relief. No more dental work for this year. But had the thoughts of her missing teeth stashed in her head. When she was 15, she put the braces and she only had to pull 3 of her teeth due to the existing gap on her top right side, the tooth there was exempted. The canines never grew out, nor did it cause her any trouble and the mystery remains a mystery.....

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