I broke my teeth - here's my learnings
I broke my teeth - here's my learnings
#29 - be grateful for having teeth
Hi there.
I know the subject of today’s post is a bit clickbaity. But it is true.
Once upon a Thursday evening, Adi went to the final hockey training of the season, to take part in the 4-way round-robin competition and to get some hockey under his belt ahead of the final match of the season on Saturday. He’d made some good tackles, been beaten comprehensively and contributed to a third-place finish for his team.
With 10 minutes to go, a whole pitch game was organised. The clock ticked by with a score of 1-1. That was when it happened. In a rather bad instance of misfortune, the reverse-hit ball flicked off someone’s stick and came flying at my mouth.
Let’s stop the description there. Without being too graphic and grotesque, my top two middle teeth (incisors) had chipped in an arc shape [Exhibit A] coupled with a couple of cuts on the bottom and top inside lips.
It’s been 72 hours since and we’re in a whole different country. Not literally, just how life feels. A trip to Accident and Emergency (A&E) at the hospital which wasn’t entirely beneficial, followed by a short visit the next day to school to attend Friday’s careers seminars, before a double dance between the dentist and the orthodontist. A worried dentist masterfully filled my teeth temporarily, as we play a game called ‘Wait And See!’ with the teeth [Exhibit B]. My orthodontist was a bit more cross, having to “pause treatment” for 3 months as we loosen the braces’ pressure. Sigh.
As you can see, it looks a lot better. If there are no signs of nerve damage, a semi-permanent crown/filling (I still can’t wrap my head around it all the options), we should be back to some form of normal. Until then, I’m having to contend with the intrusions to day-to-day life of brushing more often, talking less (it helps!), dry lips and eating sludge (what I’m being served up is a lot tastier though!)
And so, with an air of positivity, the highlight of the week would have to be getting 96% in my Economics exam. Joint-highest in the class and it was a very satisfying feeling.
Since this blog is meant to be a collection of my learnings from life, it would be remiss not to talk about my thoughts in the latter half of the week, which have frankly been scattered and messy. This is another benefit of writing: you gain clarity on your beliefs and ideas (and thus life)
👩⚕️ The National Health Service (NHS) is understaffed and underdeveloped, albeit the staff are incredible - I’ve heard this on the news and from those who’ve been to A&E due to far more serious injuries but never seen it firsthand. When I went to the hospital, I was expecting a TV series setting of beds flying around and ambulances blaring at the top of their voices. But no, it was more serene than it is on the streets. Yet I’d argue it was too quiet, too few people. For an area that’s meant to deal with serious incidents, the queue was far too slow, the waiting room far too populous and the general speed sluggish. We got there at 21:10 and got home at 23:25, with contact time with the doctor just 5 minutes.
🇬🇧🦷 How lucky I really am to live in the UK and access such world-class healthcare. It is a thought pattern I have encountered many a time in the past 5 years after moving back to Great Britain from India. The fact that I was able to access an emergency appointment with a dentist and an orthodontist, specialists in their field, was lucky, astonishing and indicative of the superb infrastructure put together over the years. My teeth now look like nothing has happened, and that’s just the temporary fix! My parents have been labouring to me about what might have happened during their childhood or even if we were in India. And the best part…it’s all completely free 🤯!
👨👩👧👦 Your parents mean well, even though it can be bloody frustrating. Confrontations with parents aren’t uncommon, especially during the adolescence part of our lives. My parents have been shellshocked by the whole thing, my mum more so, as you’d expect. #motherlyloveofson And so they've been gung-ho on the protection, telling me to effectively put my life on hold for 2 weeks. Among other instructions like only eating liquid food and not talking so much (I have a Public Speaking exam in 2 days), it has been tough to take at times and I’ve been close to bursting out. But I’ve understood, gradually, that they are in fact working so hard for me (Mum took the day off for me on Friday whilst Dad found himself in a difficult position to leave his duty on Thursday night.) and I should indeed be grateful for it, rather than try to push them away. They have the right intentions, even though I may feel they are excessive. Which brings us on to
❤️ Be kind to yourself. I wanted to go to school on Friday and be picked up as late as possible when I needed to go to the dentist (we reached a compromise of attending just the in hindsight valuable careers seminars). I’ve wanted to record my podcast (we’ll talk about this another time). I’ve wanted to be ultra-productive. But this hasn’t all come about. I’ve just had to remind myself that it is okay to not be on complete form, to be able to do anything. I’ve just suffered a mildly life-changing incident and so, need to relax. It’s a piece of advice given to me by an intelligent fellow Veseyan 2 years older than me that I often need to be reminded of. Maybe something to make my phone background? 🤔
❌🏥 Prevention is better than cure. Of course, as I’ve been asked by those familiar with hockey, was I wearing a gum shield (mouthguard)? The answer is…no. My defence is that we were told that there would be no hitting and that the ball shouldn’t come off the air. It was a stroke of bad luck, on the face of it. But I must be self-critical, put my hands up in embarrassment and admit to a mistake. I should have been wearing one, especially because I should’ve kept my caution around my braces which I had when they were new 4 months ago. I’ve learnt my lesson the hard way, the best way for it to stick and the worst way to experience it.🤕
😮💨 Be grateful for what didn’t happen. I’ve just been finishing off Steven Bartlett’s conversation with psychologist Daniel Pink where they noted how bronze medallists are happier than silver medallists because they compare below them - what could have been (worse). That’s the view I’ve been taking rather than “If only that didn’t happen” because it already has. As automated a response as it is to think that, there is no use in doing that. Instead, I am thanking God that none of my bottom teeth chipped off (there is some pain from their ‘concussion’), my nose didn’t bleed or any bones did break. In all fairness, I got out cheaply.
🌍 We are living in the luckiest time ever. Among the hockey coaches on Thursday and the sports teachers I saw on Friday, quite a few said that they had experienced a very similar thing (though far-reaching causes, may I add!) and you wouldn’t notice. As one put it, “It’s amazing the things they do these days.”. The fact dental care is so advanced that in 15 minutes, they can make it appear like nothing has happened is just bonkers.
🤗 There are kind people in the world. Among the gloom and glum of recent modern geopolitical strife, it is easy to miss the collective human niceness we are all recipients of. I only wish I was in a better place to thank all those who came up to me after the knock and ask of my state, the dozens who stayed behind to look for the missing parts of my teeth (the head coach said it was useful, still don’t get why though), those from hockey who followed up on Friday to check in on me and relatives back home saying their prayers and etching their genuine concern about me. It is magical and I am sincerely grateful - and have tried my best to express this.
💭 Stay in the present moment. In the acute immediate minutes and couple of hours after the incident, I tried my hardest to keep my feet on the ground without fuelling any dreamy future thoughts. Will I have teeth like this forever? How long can I not play sport for? It is important to be in the present at all times, but, as I realised, most so in such moments where your full concentration and focus are the need of the hour.
Phew, that was a whirlwind of a type out. Well done for successfully scraping through the mud. Hope you’ve got something useful to glean from my brain dump.
Book of the week 📖
Cashflow Quadrant has moved inches. Instead, I’ve been catching up on articles and getting my inbox unread count halved this week 🎉
Podcast of the week🎙️
A fascinating human being who’s dedicated his life to churning out valuable studies of the mind into real-life examples. Have a listen to this intricate conversation.
Article of the week📰
Focuses not so much on Russia but on their apparent mate, China. A long read but worth it.
Quote of the week💬
“Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning how to dance in the rain.” - Vivian Greene
Here’s to hoping to report better news next time,
Adi
P.S. thought the emojis would be quite nice; I’ve seen a few of my idols (newsletter role models) do that.
P.P.S. (Post Post Scriptum) You wouldn’t believe it but I was thinking to myself earlier in the week, “I’m lucky not to have been involved in a terrible accident or injury like breaking a bone, that puts me out of action for an extended period of time” (this has been the case for many people at school this year, for all kinds of injuries - wrist, collar bone, ankle).