ALAN CARLTON
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Cementing a single veneer

19/5/2016

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​Cementing a single veneer. I check everything.  And re-check. Hesitant to start.  And then I begin. I remember the time cement hardened between the teeth and I spent hours trying to remove it. Can’t let that happen. So before the cement is fully set I floss between the teeth. And I remember the time I flossed out the cement and the veneer came off.  Can’t let that happen. I check the bite, and the margins—everything looks good. I can exhale. I adjust the chair so that the patient can have a look. Jessica gives the young lady a mirror and the lady doesn’t say anything. Just stares and stares and then says,”The colour. It’s too dark.”
 
I avoid her eyes and sigh, “Okay can I have another look at it.”
 
She’s right.
 
I say,” We have funny lights in here. You have to see how it looks under different lighting situations.  You need to get used to it. I think it looks good. It’s better of being slightly darker rather than slightly lighter.”
 
This last bit doesn’t go down that well. Eventually she agrees to see how it goes. To take it home with her-which as it is cemented in place was a touch inevitable. She goes.
 
My mood has changed the way a cool change sweeps across the city.  The colours dissipate leaving behind dull, drab sepia.  I cannot move.  I sit motionless surrounded and enveloped by the surgery. The walls seem everywhere. I can sense muffled people moving but they seem a lone way away.  The energy has been sucked from me the way water disappears down the plug hole. I must force myself to move. I stand and sigh. I move very slowly.  Every step resembles a climber on Mt Everest. Laboured.  I get the next patient and I can’t believe I was so stupid. Why did I make such a basic mistake. Dentistry 101.  Jessica is irritating me. The way she leans over and holds the suction tube. And this patient’s tongue. If it does that just once more I will drill a bloody hole in it. Then it will learn what to do. Why do I put up with it? My back is aching. I want to curl up and make myself smaller and smaller. To lie still and let things happen as I lie observing the world go by through dull eyes.
  
I ring the lab.  They took the shade.  They ask me which brand cement I used.  What colour did I use?  Did I try it with different cement? Why did I cement the veneer if it was the wrong colour? This needles me. I know I made a mistake. They don’t have to rub it in.  If I can get the models back to them and they can remake it’s not really there problem if I have to cut the veneer off.
 
I tell them that we should be alright. The lab says,” We are very happy to remake it.”
I don’t think she will ring back.  She’s too passive— eager to please—too nice.  Unlike me doesn’t know what’s possible. I think she accustom herself to the veneer.  And I tell the lab,” I don’t think it will be necessary she won’t complain.”
 
They like the sound of that so they immediately repeat their offer.  I tell them that it won’t be needed.
Next patient is a blur. He says,” I hope I don’t see you a while.”
 
Very funny.  He goes and I sit motionless.
And then I reluctantly get the models out of the bin. I know what I have to do and I pick up the phone and ring the patient.
 
“We will have to redo the veneer.  The colour is not right. We will make an appointment for you.”
 
She passively agrees with me. Sounding slightly stunned and confused.
And I immediately think about the next patient. Let’s get this show on the road. The colour has returned. And next time I cement a veneer I will have one more thing to remember.
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    Author

    This blog is the fictional story of a dentist.  The dentist  works with Jessica and Beryl in a town a lot like Hobart.   The blog tells the story of what these people get up to and the work that they do.  If you feel that you recognize yourself in one of the stories please remember it is fictional and the characters and stories are all fictional. Though  all the stories are based on my time as a dentist in Hobart and  are based on things which actually did happen.  
    ​Writing these stories I often had to think about what is true and what is fictional.

    Categories

    All
    A Day In The Life
    An Old Lady Goes To The Dentist
    A Small Sad Lonely Death Notice
    A Teenage Girl Anxious And Stressed
    Back In Control
    Black Sheep
    Cementing A Single Veneer
    Dear Alan


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  • Home
  • Photos
    • photos >
      • All Saints Church
      • Anglesea Barracks
      • Art Mob
      • Boer War
      • Botanical Gardens
      • Brooke Street Pier
      • Brunswick Hotel
      • Campbell Street
      • Castray Esplanade
      • Cenotaph
      • Constitution Dock
      • St David's Cathedral
    • photos >
      • St David's Park
      • Elizabeth St Mall
      • Elizabeth St Pier
      • Franklin Square
      • Hadley's Hotel
      • Hobart GPO
      • Hobart Congregational Church
      • Hobart Rivulet
      • Hobart Town Hall
      • Holy Trinity Church
      • Heading South Sculpture
      • Hutchins Old School
    • photos >
      • Kunanyi / Mt Wellington
      • MacQuarie Street Primary School
      • Maritime Museum
      • MacQuarie Wharf
      • Parliament House
      • Penitentary
      • Railway Roundabout
      • Regatta
      • RHH
      • Royal Visits 1868 1901 1920 1927 1934
      • Royal visit 1954
      • Salamanca Place
    • photos >
      • Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
      • Theatre Royal
      • Victoria Dock
      • Saint David's Cathedral
      • Saint David's Park
      • St George Anglican Church
    • Street art: photos >
      • Bidencope Lane
      • Criterion Collins Liverpool Streets
      • Elizabeth Street North Hobart​
      • Kemp Despard Streets
    • Streets: photos >
      • Argyle Street
      • Barrack Street
      • Bathurst Street
      • Brisbane Street
      • Brooker Highway
      • Campbell Street
      • Collins Street
    • Streets: photos >
      • Davey Street
      • Elizabeth Street
      • Goulburn Street
      • Harrington Street
      • Hunter Street
      • Liverpool Street
      • Macquarie Street
      • Murray Street
  • Places
    • Places >
      • All Saint's Church
      • Anglesea Barracks
      • Atheneum Club
      • Baha’i Centre
      • Boer War Memorial
      • Brook Street Pier
      • Brunswick Hotel
      • Boats in the docks
      • Constitution Dock
      • The Drunken Admiral
      • Franklin Square
      • Gas Works
    • Places >
      • Hadley's Hotel
      • Heading South Sculpture
      • Hobart GPO
      • Hobart Synagogue
      • Hobart Town Hall
      • Holy Trinity Church
      • Hunter Street
      • Ingle Hall
      • Old Wool Factory
      • Ordnance Stores
      • Parliament House
      • Penitentiary
      • Princes Park
    • Places >
      • Princes Wharf 1
      • Scots Memorial Church
      • Saint David's Cathedral
      • Saint David's Park
      • Saint George Anglican Church
      • St Michaels Collegiate School
      • Supreme Court
  • History
    • History >
      • Tasmanian Timeline
      • Early Tasmania
      • Mid Nineteenth Century
      • Late Nineteenth Century
      • 20th Century
      • Tasmania’s aborigines
      • Convicts
    • People >
      • John Lee Archer
      • William Bedford
      • Andrew Bent
      • Louis Bernacchi
      • James Blackburn
      • William Bunster
      • William Buckley
      • Thomas Bromfield
      • Luke Castray
      • William Champion
      • David Collins
    • People >
      • John Colvin
      • Charles Darwin
      • Governor Eadley
      • TT Flynn
      • John Franklin
      • Lady Jane Franklin
      • Charles Gaylor
      • Haig: Elizabeth and Andrew
      • Henry Jones
    • People >
      • James Kelly
      • Robert Knopwood
      • Lachlan Macquarie
      • Douglas Mawson
      • Charles McLachlan.
      • George Mure
      • Pearce: Henry and John
      • Robert Pitcairn
      • Poulett-Harris
      • Reid: Arthur and Alison
      • James Clark Ross
      • Ikey Solomon
      • Phillip Smith
      • Abel Tasman
      • Mark Twain
      • AJ White
      • Andrew and Elizabeth Haig
  • Community
    • Hobart Marathon Festival
    • Hadley's Hotel
    • history is not set in bronze
    • Wooden Boat Festival 2019
    • What do you think of Hobart?
    • Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
    • The Mountain
  • Walking Tours
    • Dave's Walking Tour
    • The Tench Walking Tour
    • Botanical Gardens Circuit
    • ​Alfred’s feeling religious walk
    • Battery Point Sculpture Trail
    • Lachlan gets to the point
    • Street art: Luffy paints the town
  • Blog
    • healing through living
    • This website
    • about another website
    • Acknowledgement
    • Contact
  • The Full Complement
    • Alan Carlton
    • Daniel Frank
    • Paul Barrington
    • Jodi Sutton
    • Jodi Sutton talks about mistakes
    • Jodi Sutton: The phone
    • Ann Heath
    • Maddie Atkins
    • Karen Wong
    • Jo-Anne Cherry
    • Jo-Anne Cherry: Retirement
    • Errol Kilov
    • Garry Owen
    • Katherine Janney
    • Jacques Cawood
    • John Chung
    • Gordon Henry
  • Songs
    • Forty Years Ago
    • Tomorrow
    • Clouds in the River
    • I Woke Up
    • Hold My Hand
    • Cornelian Bay Boathouses
    • Dance on the Deck
    • Eucalyptus Globulus