ORAL FIXATION
Following years of extractions,
protracted dental procedures
that chanced to finance
dentists’ kids’ tuition,
here’s the fruition:
End of line for teeth like mine
Complete comeuppance
(come-out-ance?) of my
upper floor of teeth (the basement
to remain untouched beneath)
Oh, doctor, pray thee
go gentle into that good right
side; succumb that gum with enough
anesthetic to render a rhino redundant
Gas me gutless
The final result, partly insult
My smile replaced;
our savings laid waste
© 2013 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
You know I will write about anything when you read this one, right? Yes, I will join the “upper denture” group this week, after years of secondhand nightclub smoke plus poor access to dental care rendered my upper rack wretched and wrecked.
For Imaginary Garden With Real Toads’ Open Link Monday and dverse’s Open Mic Tuesday. And if I’m absent over the weekend, it will be because my face looks like a cauliflower and feels like the aftermath of a prizefight! Peace, Amy
Sharp Little Pencil 
mcwatty9
goodluck
Patricia A. McGoldrick
Take care! 🙂
wkkortas
Behind that gleaming perfect smile is a tongue firmly planted in its cheek.
Kathryn Dyche Dechairo
Gas me gutless . . . love that.
brian miller
i am glad though you are having the cared for…busted teeth ache so bad they ruin the rest…i pray for the doctors hands that they be guided and the pain be only as much as need be…
Richard Cody
I just had two teeth removed. Can’t afford replacements. Luckily I’ve still got my wisdom teeth!
Sherry Blue Sky
Oh I’ll be thinking of you. May all go wonderfully – you will have a radiant pearly white smile after. (I’m actually envious as I need the very same thing! But too expensive.
Ye Pirate
Fun!
claudia
go gentle into that good right
side…. haha…nice nod to dylan thomas…ugh…dentist visits are not fun..but good to get things “fixed”…
vandana
tooth ache!!! oops
L. Edgar Otto
Bring the smile back… without balance, without pain to guide our baby teeth straight, the loss of a single tooth is life threatening… If dreaming of losing teeth is thought to mean creativity… then some pay the price. May all our doughnuts go gentle into the night…
Jim
Yes, Amy, I believe now!! You WILL write of anything. I like.
I am not far behind you. Right now I have five missing on top.
My sister had all her teeth pulled while she was in her 40’s
and hasn’t regretted it a bit. She has gone through two sets
of false teeth.
..
Susie Clevenger (@wingsobutterfly)
Goodness, I so know what you mean. I have a mouth full of bridges..
http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com
Bon courage. Don’t make the mistake of getting them too white and straight. Jock used to ask patients to bring in a wedding photo or similar, so that he could re-create the situation ante bellum. You’d never have known the dentures he made weren’t natural.
Kerry O'Connor
That’s a pain I hope never to have to share, Amy. My last two extractions resulted in dry sockets.. an agony I would not wish on my worst enemy. Good luck.
I did smile, however, at your Dylan Thomas reference there: go gentle into that good right…
Roger Green
The Daughter’s probably going to need dental work. The immediate pain will be the price!
Good luck to you!
Mary
Good luck with this, Amy.
Sumana Roy
aww only the sufferers know the ordeal……….good luck…..
PassionPoet
This is a nice rwrite … the “Oh, doctor, pray thee
go gentle into that good right
side;” is a nice twist on Dylan Thomas’ “Do not go gentle into that good night” 🙂
Ella
Well done Amy! I am in pain reading this-it is worth the ordeal. I pray for you to receive gentle care! I have an implant-
El Guapo
Get translucent ones! With LEDs in the teeth!!!
How cool would that be!
Hope it all goes quickly, smoothly, and relatively pain free.
Robert Bourne
I loathe going to the dentist… and this poem confirmed that loathing… 🙂
coalblack
You have all my sympathy, Amy.
margaret
Oh, I am so sorry… but that is a very nice “click your heels three times” dream of a chair. Enjoy the anesthetic trip to Oz!
I HAVE A VOICE
I’ll say a prayer for you… I’ll miss you ! REALLY !
ManicDdaily
Yikes, Amy–this sounds so very terrible! You write about it with such wit and humor but it sounds just awful.
The best of luck to you and your mouth! Take care, k.
Rachelle Smith Stokes
*snaps* Wow, what flow! I love this ! I’m stunned.It’s all true and beautifully stated!
Sara v
Yikes!! Hope that eventually it is less pain. Dentistry can be so barbaric–I often think that “there has to be a better way…” Healing hugs