THE DENTIST’S DILEMMA.
BY
Dentistry
in the eyes of the layman has undergone a dramatic change over the last sixty
years.
When
I was small, my pearl-like milk teeth must have been the most fragile piece of
equipment . It seemed that God did not
have the time to use His Lab long enough to produce something a little more
enduring....something that would withstand chocolate feasting and its effect on
teeth enamel and the invitation to all kinds of bacteria to have a picnic in
one’s gums. I guess that milk teeth were created to get
young people to learn how to use their choppers and to line the pockets of
dentists, until permanent teeth replaced them.
In
Zanzibar at the time of my milk teeth saga, there were only two dentists in
Zanzibar. Actually there was only one
who, if memory serves me well, was called Dr. Rutter. He operated at the main hospital but he was
considered far too expensive to deal with. All his services had to be paid up front in
cash. My mother had to think of more
economic ways of having our teeth yanked out. After all, she had a few hundred
teeth in the family that might need attention at some time or other and she was
the only wage earner.
As kids we dreaded the march to” Kiponda”
Silva’s dispensary where Mr. Silva (known in the immediate community as Dr.
Silva) would yank out your teeth sans anesthetic. The fee for his service was a
little more than the cost of a pineapple at the local market.
He virtually climbed on the rickety chair on
which you were made to sit holding tightly for dear life to the arms of the
chair, in order to give him greater leverage to pull out the tooth. While he performed this obscene operation,
the pain felt like sixty days in hell.
As the tooth came out with an audible crack to the jaw, you felt that he
absconded with part of your brain too.
One
important observation that needs to be made is that whenever we were ill,
whether it was a stomach ache, a broken ankle, rash, ingrown toenail or any
other setback in one’s health, the medicine that was dispensed always tasted
the same. I often wondered why he did
not market his medicine under the title “One Medicine Cures All”.
As
a result, the Pereira boys decided that the only way to avoid future assaults
on our teeth at the Kiponda Dispensary was to try and play dentist
ourselves. As soon as a tooth felt a bit
loose in the mouth, our theory was that if one used ones tongue to push it to
and fro, it would ultimately give up its fight and fall out of our mouths. More
often than not it did but If a tooth shook enough and did not have the
intention of falling out, we decided that a little strong hand persuasion might
become necessary. Using a string, the
tooth would be secured at one end, and the other end would be tied to the knob
of a heavy door. The door was then left
ajar and the string from tooth to the doorknob was tight enough, you said a
“Hail Mary” with the muffled prayer coming out of your nose, and then you
heaved the door shut. The happy sound of
the tooth banging at the door indicated that the operation was a huge
success. We never shared this technique
with Mr. Kiponda Silva for most of his doors to his dispensary were sliding
doors.
In
Canada, thanks to Dental Insurance, (if you can afford one) many of the
services are paid for. However, in an
era of specialization, the work description of a dentist is become progressively
sparse. They seem to occupy the position
of consultant rather than get their hands dirty. For example, cleaning of teeth is done by a
hygienist. While they are attempting to
fill in a cavity, they need the constant assistance of a nurse to help use a
hose to flush and suck up the mess that they create in your mouth and to supply
the dentist with the required equipment while on the job.
My
dentist recently advised me that a grinder needed to come out but that she
would have to call in a specialist to perform the procedure. She was quick to remind me that this would
entail an extra cost that my insurance would not cover. Whatever happened to the dentist who was
trained to extract teeth???!!
Yes,
you’ve guessed!
I
am seriously considering the “ string-and-door” therapy.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
2. SEVENTEEN YEARS
After seventeen Canadian winters spent in
Goa, I am now calling it quits!!
The “Nirvana” that Goa offered when we
first visited this idyllic country and the ensuing years were not only a joy,
but it plunged us into a pristine world of hospitable, kind, loving and
unaffected people. It was a Goa that had time
for each other and friendship was not measured in terms of individual
wealth. Rice and fish curry was king,
and Goa sausages tickled the taste buds to distraction.
Then Goa plunged itself into the era of
tourism, and the scene began to change.
People also began to change as well in keeping with the times. Peaceful Goa was suddenly thrust into the
world of rave parties, noisy traffic, murder and rape, greedy entrepreneurship,
unchecked and unplanned building activities, over-crowded beaches, rising
corruption that became and continues to be systemic; police incompetence and
filth everywhere that has insulted the human condition. Criminal groups tied to
various international crime organizations have moved in and have gained support
by twisted politicians and a vulnerable police force. The infrastructure of Goa
cannot support its touristic ambitions.
As a result the traffic everywhere is a threat both to drivers and
pedestrians as well. This setback became
evident some ten years ago and the various threats are progressively on the
increase. Some Goans call this progress but are far too myopic to observe the
erosion of a vibrant culture that appears to be more alive in the Goan diaspora
than in Goa. .
The Government of India also adds to the
confusion in Goa . Draconian rules are passed with regard to the
acquisition of expensive and inflated visa costs and much insecurity is generated
by the vagaries of the laws that are passed.
Foreign ownership of property is now viewed with suspicion, and those
who have holidayed in Goa for many years are now handicapped by new laws which
restrict their free entry into the country.
Some reports coming out of Goa tell of corrupt immigration officers
doctoring foreign passports that are honestly placed in their hands at the
point of entry, by discretely tearing off pages from the passport and then
threatening the passport holder with punitive action because of false travel
documents, if a bribe is not forthcoming.
Above all, the trip which takes us
thirty-three hours from door to door has become a little too onerous and
painful for everybody but particularly for seniors. The stops at the intervening airports such as
Brussels and Mumbai (our usual route from Toronto) before we land in Goa have
become a nightmare because of the frequent and exhausting security checks and the accompanying rudeness
with which it is dispensed. People are
treated like cattle noticeably in Brussels and Mumbai where the authorities
have to deal with a sea of people who go through customs and immigration every
single day.
There is only a threshold of pain that the
human body can withstand, so we have now decided that we will spend our winters
in warmer climes to the south of us, but we will miss the Goa that we came to
love in spite of the confusion and degeneration and decline all around.
Now we read that the sea lapping the
otherwise beautiful beaches of Goa is teaming with bacteria because of the
sewers that pour all the waste directly into the ocean. This has apparently
been going on for years. The important
infra-structure that should have been put in place in the form of Sewer
Treatment Plants decades ago are conspicuously absent putting the health of its
inhabitants at serious jeopardy and risk. Drinking water generally drawn from
wells that are built dangerously close to leaking septic tanks has become a
health hazard and no effort has been exerted by the inefficient government to
build catchment areas to harness the relentless Monsoon rains to supply good
drinking water to the bulging population of Goa. Fish,
which is the mainstay of the Goan diet, is in serious jeopardy thanks to the
lack of conservation practices which were long overdue and tourists, who are
encouraged to come to Goa by the relentless advertising campaign abroad, will
soon learn that tourists are not stupid and that they will choose healthier
tourist destinations than Goa. There is already evidence that tourists are now
moving to South India where they find it much cleaner and excitingly cheaper.
The mining fiasco is a threat to the people
who live in the immediate environs but the pollution created by the rape of the
land is widespread.
It is to be hoped that someday the Political
Parties in Goa will put aside their financial and political interest and will work
for the benefit of the people and for Goa and will not view their stewardship
as a platform to enrich themselves by deceitfully sending their ill begotten
gains to safe havens in Europe . Rather,
it is to be hoped that they will work tirelessly to improve Goa so that it can
once again become a joy not only for tourists but particularly for the
indigenous and neglected population who deserve a much better deal than what
they are getting.
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