Tibet Tootpaste and Root Canal

Last week I went to the dentist to get a root canal for one my tooth. It cost me more than $1000.0 or about one lakh Pakistani Rupees. This does not include the crown for the tooth which will cost another $800.00. This is still cheap because the dentist who is a fellow Pakistani with a degree in dentistry from Punjab University gave me a discount.


On the way back from the dentist, I started reminiscing about the first toot paste, and how valuable, it was to me. More than 50 years ago, when I was in the elementary school, I got my own Tibet toothpaste. I still remember saving money for it and going frequently to the general store to check the prices of the toothpaste. The Tibet toothpaste was the cheapest because it was made in Pakistan while the Kolynos toothpaste was foreign made cost more than twice the Tibet toothpaste. Finally, I had saved up about three rupees and went to different stores to check prices and found the best deal. I proudly brought my toothpaste and used it instead of the tooth powder or Churan or powdered charcoal to clean my teeth.

Of course my teeth survived well even after the bad dental care during childhood because we did not have access to candies, sweets, and cakes as the Americans kids do these days. They end up costing their parents a lot of money with dentists and orthodontists. However, the neglect for the teeth finally catch up with me when I was in Medina, Saudi Arabia, in 1968. The throbbing pain necessitated that I visit an Arab dentist.

I still shudder when I remember how this Arab dentist treated me. He had a drill just like the electric drill I bought from Home Depot to drill holes in the wall and wood. It was menacing and bulky. He drilled several of my tooth to fill cavities which brought timely relief. Of course it did not last long because a few months after the pain reappeared while I was a student in England. I and the dentist took full advantage of my student status and National Health Service to remove the cavities filled by the Arab dentist and insert new material. The dentist also removed my wisdom teeth; however, he was unsuccessful in removing one of badly placed molar and broke it. He left the broken piece under the gums and said that it will be OK for the next 20 years.

Having realized the importance of healthy teeth, I tried to keep hygiene thereafter. This ended when playing racquetball at a remote campsite, I broke my front tooth by hit from my own racket. Of course, every one in the camp thought, including my wife and kids, thought that I had a fight in the bar. It took several days to find a Korean dentist in the nearest town 60 miles away and travel there to get tooth fixed using special crazy glue type of adhesive and adding additional material. Of course, the repaired tooth has broken two times since then in the last 15 years. The last time the dentist told me that if it breaks again, I will need root canal and crown job.

The recent need for the root canal started while I was in Phoenix on a business trip. The pain started again. I remembered the words of one of niece's husband that our Sheikh family is so large that wherever you go in the world in different continents, you can find a relative. Therefore, I looked up for one of my distant relatives Dr. Shafi who is a dentist and practice in Phoenix area. However, with the pressure of time and not to embarrass myself in visiting his surgery in time of need, I flew back home to Washington DC area.

Once in my own home town, I used all the connections to get treatment fast. I called up the young dentist Saba Elahi who is a relative and whom I have seen grow up as a child. She was busy but checked me out during her lunch hour. She provide temporary relief and medicine. Thereafter another dentist Noor Imtiaz took over and did the root canal on an accelerated schedule.

This brings me back to the cost of my Tibet toothpaste and root canal treatment. The cost of the root canal is about 100,000 times more than the toothpaste. How the age and time leaves you with stories you want to tell but no one wants to listen; therefore, you put them on your blog.