He politely asked to see me in my free time. I was new in my practice and I had all the time he would want. As I looked up to assess him, I saw a simple, slim, slightly balding but smiling middle aged man, who seemed to be too eager to please me. He had a “shubnum” bag slung over his shoulder. Seemed like a very respectable gentleman to me. Salesman! I guessed.
Shoot, I told him. He reached into his pocket and fished out a tattered piece of paper, opened it, straightened it up and then with a smile on his face he said “Sir I will read you few sentences and at the end of it I shall ask you for your opinion. After that I shall pay your fees”. ” Hey what is this all about?” I exclaimed. When he repeated his words I said. “OK, go on”
My jaw dropped, when I heard him. He had composed an essay completely denigrating himself calling himself foolish, stupid and idiot, ignorant and any and every debasing word. “I am a fool” “I am the most ignorant person on earth” “I should be locked up in an asylum” and on and on till the end of the page.
“Any corrections Sir?” he said with some facial tics. ” No”. “But I am not sure I understand……” “Any Corrections Sir?” “No”. “Phew” I wasn’t understanding what the game was. “Sir what are your fees?” I realized here was a very disturbed person, probably even a psychotic. My mouth dried up. “Sir what are your fees?” I was tempted to say “it’s on the house mad fella” but I ended uttering a figure. He paid and left. This guy was a masochistic psycho! Yearning for hate and contempt, begging for punishment and paying for it!
I found out from other practices in the vicinity that he showed up on all of them! The other doctors saw him as a easy source of income, making money without raising a finger! They winked at me and congratulated me for my new source of extra income.
He kept on coming for years. I would sometimes suggest more derogatory words for him to add to his resume’! And I also expected to be paid higher for my suggestions! You see, I have a mastery over language and I could add more color to his self-deprecation and make money on it! Occasionally he even made me put my initials on the literary alterations I had suggested and he profusely thanked me.
Then one day he turned up as usual and while I was expecting him to fish for his, by now notorious tattered note, when he said ”I came with a different problem today, ”Can you check my teeth?”
“You see I had got my wisdom molar removed many years ago, the wound didn’t heal and there was pus coming out for a long time. Whenever I saw my dentist he said there was no pus, ‘you may be imagining things. It’s all psychological’. But I can still feel the pus coming out”
On examining him closely just behind the lower second molar was an almost puckered up wisdom molar socket, I could put the entire beaks of my tweezers which would disappear inside it. Though there was no pus there might have been some bad tasting liquid discharge. Something was the matter. Taking an intra oral radiograph showed ‘nothing’ behind the second molar. A larger extra oral X-ray was ordered.
Continued In Next Blog:
Author:
Dr. Sanjay Jamdade Dr. Sanjay Jamdade is a senior practitioner practicing implantology, oral rehabilitation, conservative dentistry, and endodontics, with over 35 years of exemplary service in advancing dental care. He has been a speaker on dental implantology and a respected visiting implantologist across various clinics in Maharashtra, his expertise is widely recognized. Currently serving as the CEO of Dr. S.D. Jamdade Dental Clinic, he leads an establishment renowned for its excellence in aesthetic dentistry, microscope-assisted endodontics, dental implants, and comprehensive oral rehabilitation. Strategically situated near the prestigious Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) in Boisar, Taluka Palghar, District Palghar, the clinic stands as a trusted bastion of high-quality dental care. For professional inquiries or consultations, Dr. S. D. Jamdade may be contacted via email at sanjayjamdade@gmail.com. sanjayjamdade@gmail.com.