I was taken to the huge chair, which was very comfortable and surrounded
by all sorts of shiny chrome-plated apparatus and lights.
Dear Lorraine
In my last letter to you under the heading Serious Snappy dresser and Others I related some of my rainwear experiences. Now with your permission I will expand a bit on my visits to the dentist, which I thought I was the only person in the world to experience but will be familiar to some other correspondents in particular Deborah.
It was sometime around the Winter of 1954 when one day I was at home with Mum and probably playing with my "Dinky" toys on the living room floor of our suburban semi when Mum said something like, "Oh dear, Amanda's been to the dentist".
I got up and went over to the window to see what she meant. There was Amanda and her Mum turning into the street having just got off the bus. (Amanda who was about a year older than me stayed further along the street.) She was dressed in her navy blue hooded gabadine coat and holding a large red scarf and handkerchief over her mouth.
Mother explained that as she had a tooth out she needed to keep her mouth covered up for a couple of days. Even at the tender age of 7 the sight of Amanda all wrapped up got me a bit "excited" - and curious about this strange place called the dentist.
The following winter my turn came as a troublesome tooth required to come out. Despite reassurances from Mum and Dad it was with some trepidation that I entered the sugery with Mum. We were greeted by a smiling nurse and shown into the waiting room. As it was late afternoon and I was the last patient of the day I did not have long to wait.
I was taken to the huge chair, which was very comfortable and surrounded
by all sorts of shiny chrome-plated apparatus and lights.
It was about then that I became aware of the all enveloping aroma and culture of the surgery. I was falling under its spell.
The nurse told me to breath normally and then the dentist placed the mask over my face. Immediately I became light-headed and sank into unconscious, with that rubbery smell lingering on in my brain.
A few minutes later, minus the offending tooth, I awoke and was reunited with Mum. My mind was still whirling and I would now use the word erotic to describe the experience.
Mum buttoned up my coat - and then produced a large soft navy blue wool scarf which I remember to this day as having large fringes at either end. She placed a handkerchief on the scarf and wrapped it over my mouth and tied it behind my neck.
The journey home was just as described by Deborah. I felt wonderful all wrapped up cosy snug and warm. I spent the next few days holding my scarf firmly wrapped over my mouth.
Years later a casual girlfriend at secondary school - let's call her "Julie" - didn't turn up for school one day and I wondered what had happened to her. The next day she arrived wearing a green cotton raincoat (a change from her usual duffle coat or gabardine) and with her mouth covered with a large fluffy green woolly scarf and handkerchief. Yes, she had been to the dentist. She looked lovely in her raincoat, all wrapped up against the cold and I enjoyed walking with her to her house.
A few years ago some more of my teeth had to be extracted and although the surgery was a lot more modern I was still taken by the culture of the surgery and once again being winter I had to keep a cosy warm scarf over my mouth for some time.
Very good feeling being all wrapped up - under the "spell" of the dentist once again.
David
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