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Side Sim -Cross's appointment at the Ship's Dentist.

Posted Jan. 19, 2022, 3:18 p.m. by Lieutenant Junior Grade Adebowale Mbala (Ship's Dentist) (David Fergusson)

[snip]

Cross made her way to the dentist’s office, she wasn’t exactly looking forward but what else could the female doctor do? With one broken tooth and at least one or two fillings Cross did not have much of a choice, she hit the buzzer and waited.....Well they do say doctor’s are the worst patients .

Ade came to the door and saw Doctor Cross. “Is this about the stasis box, or you finally taking me up on my offer of treatment?” Ade remembered that Miriam had been in some discomfort in the Fantail Lounge shortly after she had arrived on the Merrimack, but she had never disclosed exactly what the problem was. She had been touching a tooth with her tongue and going ‘’Ouch’‘. Ade had positively brightened with the prospect of some real dentistry to do, and had told her to come and see him and he’d take care of it. “If it’s the problem you were having in the Fantail Lounge, then the pain must be killing you by now. Have you taken painkillers? And you’d better come inside. Just mind you don’t trip over that stasis box!”

Cross glared at him and if looks could kill Ade would drop dead on the floor after all no one goes to a dentist in a happy, jovial mood and she was no exception.

‘’I have one broken tooth and maybe one or two that need fillings,’ Cross replied while eyeing the instruments on display which made her think of a torture chamber, the doctor knew she had to get on the couch but was putting it off even if for one more second.

“Well, I’m the dentist,” Ade replied, “So, I’ll do the diagnosis if that’s okay?”.

Cross muttered something in her own language

He saw her looking at the display of instruments and added, “Don’t worry about those! Those belonged to my great-grandfather. Dentistry today is all achieved with transporter technology. Once I’ve scanned your mouth into the computer and mapped it in three dimensions, I simply click a button and the tooth is gone. Same for cavities and replacement teeth. They can be filled or replaced at another click of a button. I’ll give you painkillers for the pain, and that’s it, all done. Now, the difficult part is scanning your mouth accurately. It takes quite a while to get it perfectly accurate, and I do need you to sit absolutely still for the entire period. Do you think you can do that for me?”

‘’Guess I don’t have much of a choice do I’‘ Cross replied and sat down ‘’I’ll do my best not to move ‘’ though her tone of voice didn’t sound so convincing .

“Not if you want it fixed,” replied Ade. “Now this machine is very noisy and makes a lot of sudden movements and loud banging as it moves around scanning your jaw bones and mouth. Don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe and it won’t hurt a bit. You won’t feel a thing either. However, it does take about six minutes and as I said already you must remain completely motionless for that entire time.”

Cross tried to relax but after a few minutes she raised a hand ‘’Em what if the machine malfunction ..what then?’‘ she asked ‘’How would you know that all the noise is normal or not?’‘.
Even if the dentist was calm and reassuring, it was going to be the first time that the female doctor was about to have this kind of procedure.

“Please don’t raise your hand,” Ade said. “The scanning part is almost done. Just a few minutes more. And I’ve never seen a scan malfunction before. This technology is centuries old. The scan does use ionizing radiation, which can result in cancer, or may damage your DNA, but I’ll give you a tablet to prevent that happening. The noise is just the noise of a coiled wire electromagnet expanding and contracting. Nothing more dangerous than a creaking gate hinge. The Transporter technology used is a new development, but no more dangerous than the Ship’s Transporter that you use every day. Considerably less dangerous actually, as all I’m transporting is a small filling, a broken tooth, and a false tooth into the gap created.

With that explanation Cross did stay still but not her thoughts ,since the dentist gave an example of the transporter little did he know that she never felt safe stepping up to be transported, wondering if she’ll materialize as a mess of pulp on the other side.

“There we go!” Ade said. “That wasn’t too bad, was it? Now you can relax for a while as a model of your jaw and mouth is created in the computer. Then I just need you to stay still for a couple of minutes longer while I replace the tooth and make the fillings.” Ade was busy moving his fingers around on a console and intermittently pressing buttons.

After a few minutes he said, “Okay! This is the final bit. Are you ready?”

Cross rolled her eyes for her this seemed to be going on forever, she was about to say something but decided not to and simple nodded.After all it as her fault for munching on that bone way, way back.

Ade completed the procedure. “You know,” Ade said, “When I was younger I could have become a heart surgeon rather than a dentist, but then I thought on it longer and decided that people only have one heart, but thirty-two teeth!”

‘’You know what dear Ade I have come to the conclusion that you must have a couple of loose screws ‘’ she remarked while looking a the now absent broken tooth ‘’Though I must say you did a good job of restoring my angelic smile ‘’ not that there was anything angelic about Cross !

“Well, that’s gone well,” Ade said. “All done!”

‘’Thank you’‘ the doctor smiled now not self conscious about smiling ‘’Say just for the record, if someone loose all thirty- two teeth that person would still live but the heart? Well that’s a different story’‘.

“Exactly my point!” Ade replied, “That heart-doctor would probably never work in Starfleet Medical again. The dentist, he’d just make some dentures.”

She made her way to the door and without turning asked ‘’A couple of drinks later on?’‘.

Cross Dr.

“Yes, for sure!” Ade replied.

Ade, Ship’s Dentist


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