Virgilio Almario and I share the same dentist

Virgilio Almario’s dentist, is also my dentist… at least now.

I went to the dentist today. Since there was this weird feeling in my tooth that has been bothering me, so I went out to get it checked. I thought it was funny since last week I deliberately skipped work and made a lame excuse that my tooth hurts…

I’ve been cheating from my dentist in Laguna I thought, I should really go back there. I trust that dentist of mine and I’m not really happy with going to hospitals and dental clinics.

When I was young, I was very sickly and I think I remember going to the hospital each month. I hated going to the hospital because it was the place where people go when they feel something is bad with their health. Well, that was true. To add insult to my fear, walls were plastered with these disgusting body diseases of cancer and other ailments I would never imagine myself or anyone to have.

The hospital for me back then was an unhappy depressing place.

My mother was a nurse, I wonder if that explains the medication over the slight symptom of a cold? I grew up chugging down cocktails and cocktails of pills, anti-biotic, tablets and others. I thought that was normal, nothing much have changed until now. I’m still the same pill-popping person I was once.

Of course when I was younger I would have to do with syrups and I thought they were really delicious, until it came to a point where I would drink the syrups even if I’m no longer sick or even if I’m perfectly fine. My mother scolded me of course so I learned to drink the syrup by sneaking. I guess at such a young age of 7 I could have been considered a Narcotic addict. Don’t worry, it didn’t last long, my mother learned to hide the medicines.

Moving on, away from my sickly childhood, I found myself in the lobby of a nice looking dental clinic. They gave me a form to sign up, so they can keep a record. I answered most of them truthfully and there were funny questionnaires that brightened up my day.

Do you like your smile? I checked the box next to the word yes. I even smiled when I did.

Then the question where you have to list down your allergies:

Dust

Pollens

Seafood / Eggs

Sudden Weather Change

Other questions now expounded on my health such as, if I have STD, Cancer etc. so I answered most of them as “No” but there was this box that I left out and couldn’t quite answer right away.

I looked at it as though I was playing a gazing game with it. I didn’t want to answer it, the question was somehow incorrect “Do you have a heart disease?”

I wouldn’t call it heart disease though… but nonetheless I answered it, I don’t remember if I checked the “yes” box or the “no” box. I have still yet to visit my doctor in Laguna, have 2D echo tests and that other test that has the word “scan” with it, but I have missed my appointments several times already, I have been tested for the earlier tests and procedures but simply the idea of going to the hospital is not exactly my thing. My friend Zeus even said he would accompany me to the hospitable but I turned down his offer, I said “I’m fine… don’t worry”, I said that because for some sort of reason I didn’t want him to think that his friend has suddenly become handicap and wouldn’t be able to do certain things. Which was true but that won’t really stop me from doing what I want.

My mom told me, my heart became like this since I took a lot of medicines even if they weren’t for me. I digress, my aunt has one. I blame their bloodline.

I met the dentist immediately and he read what my occupation was because I told him I don’t have insurance or anything. “Ah you’re a writer!” he exclaimed, he said that the National Artist Virgilio Almario is also his patient and so was his family. “Just hold on one moment, I was with a patient”, then a beautiful woman came out and left. The dentist said she was a news anchor at some local channel, I mentioned she looked familiar but I really have no idea who she was.

He took me in and told me to sit on the dentist chair, his assistant helped out. I smiled at the dentist and just like a good dentist he complimented my smile “You have a beautiful smile! Nice set of teeth, they are big.”

Truthfully I’m not happy with my teeth.

Back in my childhood when one of my front teeth fell off and my parents told me to make a wish, I wished for rabbit’s teeth. He did manage to make me feel at ease so I had to give it to him.

The check was done in 30 minutes but I had to come back in a week or two.

He told me about his patients and that how he would love to have writers as his patients, he said “You don’t get a lot of them here”

Then I went to the never ending question I’ve been asking others and myself

“What’s with writers?”