Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-26644104-20151224170047

I couldn't take the pain anymore. It started from the back of my mouth and went down my neck and up my temple. I couldn't really chew any food either. I had been avoiding hard crunchy food for a couple of days. I was desperately looking for a dentist office where they would let me make payments or give me credit. I lost my dental coverage because I wasn't working full time. I was going through a rough patch and now to top it off my wisdom teeth were coming in. Strangely, I only had three growing. Two of them grew fine and didn't hurt at all but, my lower left tooth was pushing my molar. Im pretty sure it was infected too. I seriously considered my grandpa’s suggestion to pull it out for me. That is until I saw a commercial on tv for a new clinic that recently opened up called Tod Dental. They offered payment plans and I was able to schedule an appointment immediately. They said it sounded like an emergency and told me to come in the same day. I started feeling better knowing my pain was going to be taken care of.

When I got there the receptionist had a neat accent. There weren't many people there and I was called after about fifteen minutes. First they did x-rays to see how my wisdom teeth were growing. They told me what I had already suspected. My lower left tooth was growing into my molar and pushing all my teeth forward. They also said I had a baby wisdom tooth. It would probably never grow and just stay out of sight. The dentist recommended I get all three out but I decided to just get the painful on out. I didn't want to pay more than I needed. The other two were perfectly fine. They just want to make more money and keep you indebted to them. They told me to relax for a little bit while they got prepared. There was a tv built into the dentist chair but I decided to just sit back and catch my breath. That’s when I noticed the large window was looking out into a cemetery. It wasn't far a way either, it was right outside the window. I hate cemeteries. I wash they hadn't built this clinic so close. I started feeling uneasy so I turned the tv on. The assistant came in to rub some topical anesthetic on my gums and waked out. She said the dentist would come in about 15 minutes once my mouth was numb. I thought that was going to be all my anesthesia but later the dentist came in to inject my gums. I closed my eyes so I wouldn't see the needle going into my mouth. I feel like she poked me too many times, but my mouth was totally numb. I had no more pain.

I asked the assistant to close the window curtain because I didn't like seeing the cemetery. I know its dumb but I was scared that there was a possibility that I might die somehow while they were extracting my tooth. “You’re going to feel a lot of vibration,” is the last thing I heard. I decided to just look up at the ceiling the whole time cause closing my eyes seemed scarier. I definitely felt the vibrations, luckily no pain. The vibrations stopped but next I felt hard tugging. She was pulling on my tooth with a little hook. I was so tense holding on to the hand grips. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something behind me. The assistant and dentist were in front of me. Who else was in here? I hadn’t seen anyone else come in. A man slowly came up from behind me, his face hovering over mine. He had a big grin on his face but no teeth, just bloody gums. I wanted to scream but the dentist was drilling in my mouth. If I moved I know something horrible would happen. I shut my eyes until the vibration stopped. I was about to open my eyes again but then I felt the tugging and my tooth finally came out. “We’re all done you can open your eyes now,” said the dentist. I hesitantly opened my eyes. Luckily the man was gone. I told myself that it was probably a hallucination form the anesthesia. I had been really nervous and I had seen the cemetery before the extraction. I just wanted to go home, take some pain meds, and fall asleep.

About a week went by when my mom called to ask me where I got my tooth taken out. She was needing to get dentures. Her medicaid wouldn't cover it though. She had me set up an appointment and asked me to go with her. She doesn't speak english. I didn't really want to go back but I had to do it for my mom. She was surprised at how reasonable their prices were. She was very frugal. I learned from her to be the same way. Luckily there was an assistant that could translate for my mom, so I could just stay in the waiting area. I struck up a conversation with the receptionist by asking her where she was from. She was actually from Poland near the border it shares with Germany. I asked her how they keep their prices so low. She told me they had just opened but not many people had come yet so they were running promotions to entice new patients. This week they had a special on dentures. I started playing on my phone for a while. I lost track of time and when I finally looked up the receptionist was gone.

It seemed eerily quiet. I decided to go outside to get some fresh air. I went around the back to the cemetery entrance. There was the receptionist walking towards me coming out of the cemetery. “I see you've decided to get some fresh air as well,” she said. “I like to come out here and take walks during my breaks. “Doesn’t it creep you out a little?” I asked. “No, it’s actually very peaceful. Besides I don’t believe in ghosts.” She walked back to the clinic and I stayed there contemplating. I decided to walk a little bit. There was a nice sidewalk path. I took a right turn at the first intersection that way I could circle back around to the entrance. It actually was peaceful. A little farther down the path I noticed a lady by a tree. She was just standing there with a sad look on her face. I think she was looking at me but I didn’t want to make eye contact. I started getting a weird feeling in my stomach. I looked up and she was staring at me. She started walking slowly my way. I did the only thing I could think of and pretend that my mom was calling me telling me to go back I turned around and waked quickly away. I didn’t even look back to see if she was still behind me. Luckily my mom actually was done when I got back.

Tod Dental had set up a follow up appointment in six months for me, but after that incident in the cemetery, I never wanted to go back. When my appointment was approaching they called to make sure I was still coming. I lied and said I had gotten new insurance and I was seeing my old dentist. I thought I heard the last of them until a couple months later. The clinic was on the local news. The owners were caught body snatching. They had been using real human teeth in fillings, crowns, and dentures. By using free teeth from the dead, they were making extra profit. I was in shock. I didn't even know what else the newscaster said. I just kept seeing that man’s face with the bloody gums. They probably took his teeth and he was looking for them. Then I remembered that lady in the cemetery. Maybe she hadn't been looking at me. Maybe she had been staring at the clinic behind me. I gasped because my mom’s dentures were probably made up of her teeth.

I rushed to my mom’s house to tell her the horrible news. She had a look of horror in her eyes as she quickly removed the dentures out of her mouth. She said we should take them back to the cemetery immediately. My mom is very superstitious. The last thing she wanted was a vengeful spirit coming after her. I agreed and we went to the cemetery to the spot I saw the lady. We left the dentures by the tree. My mom said a prayer and we left. I pray to God that I never have dental problems. Well as long as possible. I know when I’m old I’ll probably have to go see a dentist. I no longer trust dentists. The sickest part about what the owners at Tod Dental did is that they weren’t shy about it. Very few people spoke their native language in our town but I found out that Tod means death in German.  