Its all Dental: The Formula is working

 

Sam fan Thomas the Cameronian marooner musically speaking belted some wonderful tunes. In one of his Makossa style songs he praises one with a wonderful smile. In my own Luhya opinion, a beautiful smile has to preview a wonderful set of teeth. The lips unveil them just a bit to invite a welcome, invoke appreciation or a courteous beckon even a fitting acknowledgement. Samba Mapangala of the Loketo fame was more direct in his “vunja mifupa kama meno bado iko” song. In his overture he intends that life has to be enjoyed. To him this can be done when one has strong set of teeth and appetite. This then follows that teeth are important for our existence as we have to chew food and life at the same time. I know poetically speaking having teeth could also mean being strong, brave and bullish. I dare add that when one has a strong set of teeth their confidence could be more than average.

My dental check up visits over the years have been few and far apart. Doctor Ojwang’s stern face and loud commanding voice could not allow many to enjoy a visit to his clinic in Dandora phase three. The pale look of his patients in those cold white wooden benches did not offer any encouragement either. The screams of grown men sent chilling shudders in one’s spine. You see in late eighties, health technology in our country was basic. Anaesthesia was not as potent and you could hear Dr. Ojwang commanding his patients “kaa ngumu nani!” this would then follow with “fungua mdomo vizuri! Susan shika hiyo mikono yake sawa sawa” this would be followed by loud helpless screams. I tell you many patients ran out and others instantly realized their toothaches could wait. To make matters worse the nurse would give you salty water to gaggle then add some to the affected area before padding it with cotton wool for you to bite hard for thirty minutes. The instruction would be given in a firm voice. You can imagine the sour faces in the waiting area that met you when you visited. You could not dare leave until they affirmed that the bleeding had stopped.

From this experience I willingly obliged whenever a loose tooth needed to be pulled out at home. I even became my own dentist to avoid my mum’s firm grip and her swift pulling out technique. She had this family health and hygiene book that had illustrations and was an easy read. She would religiously read it just like her bible. She would then become a doctor and nurse upon our return from school. She would check our noses, tongue, hands, skin, teeth and even our scalp with magnifying precision. When she would find fight bruises, we would be disciplined for them then the hot water massage would ensue.

The pain of a toothache reverberates through the entire body starting with the head thus cannot be ignored. Many people try home remedies and self-medicate as they fancy not a visit to the dentist. The agony of such visits is not only excruciating physically but does drain the pocket too. Unlike days gone, many dentist clinics are now parlors. You will be offered strong pain killers, choose your read from well stacked magazines, journals and the like. There is an offer of water, tea, coffee, cake even a mint for fresh breath. Many a procedure will require an x-ray of your teeth, strong anaesthesia and delicate expensive treatment. The dentist chairs are not hard and plain but cushy and comfy. They offer light blocking goggles, mouth braces and a soothing mouth wash not salty water after.

I like today’s dentist clinics they leave no trauma in children. Paediatric dentists have become creative and offer smiley faces, balloons and toys to kids and thus make it easy for them to consult on them. Whereas the extras come at a cost and make the visits longer than should be but they are worth it in the long run.

This is year has brought so many changes to our lives that the normal dental checkup was not a priority. Until I felt a pain that home remedies could not cure. Overtime I have come to know chewing mint leaves relieves pain, cinnamon powder alleviates tooth decay and we may have all tried the charcoal with bicarbonate whitening trick. This particular tooth discomfort was not responding to my regiment of home remedies. It was stubborn not so painful but it was there. I did not want to go to a dentist clinic and take literally the whole day so I started making inquiries. With the corona pandemic it would be foolish to want to hang around a health facility for long. I wanted a place that would take the shortest time possible.

My inquiries led me to Taiba Dental Unit. The person who referred them to me mentioned how this facility has lean processes that lead to an efficient turn-around. I made my way to their clinic next to  Parkroad Mosque around about 8 am last Friday the 7^th of August 2020. The four flight of stairs led me to their second floor abode. I was welcomed with an airy waiting bay and an impressive short queue. I quickly registered with the nurse at the reception. She gave me a card and advised to wait for my call. In under ten minutes I was called, my vitals were taken as per policy and Dr. Mahbubur diagnosed me from my explanation as he checked the pain area. I was ushered back to the waiting bay and told that the nurse would guide me. Within five minutes the nurse called and told me to pay for the expected service and no sooner had I paid than my name was called by another nurse. She did take me to the last cubicle of the dual row of four. As I sat on the cushy and comfy dentist chair similar to the one I sat on when they were checking me out, Dr. Dan introduced himself and explained what he was going to do. He explained that I had an attrition on the fourth upper tooth on my right jaw. Seems I have been going hard against the grain instead of the circular motion required. Pardon me as I ascribe to the “muosho mmoja na sugua kabisa” clean adherents.

He commended me on the clean teeth as he advised on using the right technique to brush. He noted that the attrition from my tooth was as a result of hard brushing sequence. The filling he performed took less than five minutes. He then quickly bid me goodbye and I had to leave even though I would have loved to engage him a little more. Taiba Dental Clinic have perfected the art of lean processes and thus achieved efficiency. I have never had a shorter more affordable dental checkup and treatment before. I counted slightly over twenty people that had been served in the short time that I was in the clinic. All within forty minutes – I was on my way back home, treated and affordably so!

Kudos to Dr. Mahbubur Khan and his entire team for making dental health care swift and within reach of the community they serve. Enjoy life and chew every good acceptable right thing but first work on having strong teeth. Start today to care for your teeth and general oral health.

 

Picture courtesy of freepik.com

Let Thy Legs be Thy Walk

We are in a race of life. We find ourselves racing against time. Sometimes we are caught up in the race that we miss the beauty of life. Life is funny and treacherously interesting. What we perceive often turns out to be different from what we expected. Seasons of life come and go at will and no amount of our cajoling or restraint can hold life still. The harsh reality of our insecurities, disasters, pandemics, wars and all that is anti-life becomes our pre-occupation. We work hard and smart to create distance between ourselves and lack. We exercise as we eat healthy to beat lifestyle conditions and diseases. We continuously are working towards something or out of something. Life in itself is not satisfying. Our backgrounds, education or lack of it shape most of our adult lives which in many cases are lived as a race.

Yesterday, the second of August, I took an evening walk. I chose a route way before hand and planned for forty five to an hour brisk walk. I even chose my workout clothes and shoes factoring the chilly breeze of a fading out cold July. My warm up was a five minute simple dance routine that involves repetitive body rotations and stretch sequences. Over the last seventy six days I have done nothing much in terms of exercise; other than stretching, the twenty five daily press up challenge and the calculated steps into and out of buildings. With a healing ankle ligament and sole tissue acquired from my golfing stunts, I am living healthy. Dr. Vladimir Shchukin is categorical about rest and I rely on his advise seriously as I once did not heed it and had to take rest longer than was necessary.

Rest is luxury. Needless to say our race humanly speaking waits for no one. That may explain why it is hard to prefect politics. When our president advises that we focus on development, the politics race to outdo each other in seducing Wanjiku, Moraa, Wanjala and Ahmed will always shape our conversations. Rest cannot be cheap and definitely never be peaceful when lifes’ issues are pressing. We live but as we do bills have a way of tagging unto us. Rest in itself is therefore a bill to be paid. No vacation is free. Even if it sounds so, work has to be put in or will be put in to cater for it. This will be paid for by yourself or by another as the bill has to be met whichever the case. So I would be lying to say that I have rested hundred percent since the good doctor gave his advice. I admit doing restful things and reducing on strenuous activities. This argument qualifies my intentions to rest but also affirms the need for yesterdays walk.

I had a little chat with my neighbors and the evening guard as I stepped out of the gate. I picked a pace that was quick but not so fast and got into the rhythm of it. Normally, it is hard to clear your head in the first few minutes into a walk as your thoughts cache memory are fully queued for processing. The sidewalk was busy with people out for their walks, many rushing to go somewhere and others on different errands. As I crossed a lane, my ears picked a rush of steps. Not too loud but squashy and fast. Before I could turn around to check, a lady in a black long skirt, black fleece jacket, dusty sneakers and donning a black backpack swooshed past me. She had quite a pace in her stride. Subconsciously, I quickened my steps and tried to catch up. As I did this, I remembered our Luyeshe Primary School days. The school was about seven kilometres from my grandmother’s house. So naturally to be in good time after doing our morning chores, we had to run all the way. In the evenings, we walked yes but we had a quick pace that became second nature. Joseph Shaviya, his younger sister, John Lukulala, Sifuma Sitati, Vincent Kasembeli, Angatia Kuranya and Nyayo Mutali formed our evening walking club.

We would make fun of each other, imitate teachers and play mischief as we walked home. Shaviya was the fastest in “khukunya” as we referred to it in Kabras. He would hold his bag at an angle theta and saunter away. Making huge steps that seemed to increase in pace as he went along. We made fun of this and by doing so we caught on the walking style. As I watched the lady infront of me she had a similar gait. I tried to catch up in vain. When I realised this I smiled behind my face mask and kept my pace. Some mornings, when we were early we would walk and not run, but then the walk always felt like a mid run. This sometimes would end up as a sprint if we heard a bicycle rattle behind us. Even if you were early it was a crime for the teacher to get into school before you. In an effort to enjoy most of our walk we would prefer “khukunya” so that we don’t sprint.

The lady in black with a black bag and sneakers knew “khukunya”. And she did it almost effortlessly as I could remember of our days in Luyeshe. She branched off to another road as I continued on my route. I soon approached an old man in a grey tracksuit, a bowler hat and a walking cane. I greeted him as I swooshed past him. I am cognizant of the fact that his age is in my pursuit and his slow pace will be my average not long from today. On the other side in an open field, children of mixed ages played football. Kicking, running after the ball and shouting to their paired team mates. Theirs was a different race. At the moment they are chasing their studies and just like the ball they were kicking; it is not easy. They will have to learn to dribble the ball between their legs as they run. Be flexible enough to turn in full flight and swift to charge at the keeper without getting hit by competition. They have to learn to complain less after being faulted, cry foul to stop an impending attack and play smart to avoid unnecessary injuries. Anyways, my walk continued and all the while keeping my eyes alert and adjusting the spring in my legs according to the terrain. Jumping, hopping and even stopping as the walk progressed.

As I walked downhill I met a gentleman panting his way up and you could tell he has weight goals to achieve. His determination seemed unstoppable and he looked familiar probably I have seen him more than once at Jaffery’s Arena. I gave him a thumbs up sign and he nodded at me in encouragement and acknowledgement. I took a turn and now my walk turned uphill along Milimani road (now Kikwete Road). The deep drainage seemed cleaner, I could not ascribe that as Major Mohamed’s doing or Governor Sonko’s. There was a lady washing her untensils (a 2kg can and some plastic plates) there was another container beside her full of almost burnt cassava. She was focussed on her race oblivious to anyone.  Opposite Integrity center the taxi men were chatting besides their tools of trade hoping some customer would waltz into their direction. Near Sagret Hotel I acknowledged the old man with a walking cane I had seen earlier. He was on phone but he nodded at me and not even the face masks we had one could stop the smile that showed in our eyes.

As I approached home, I was happy now to see familiar faces, familiar cars on the road and a familiar turn along my path. I know my pace changed all through the walk. I slowed down but picked it up again. I had to adjust my steps to the terrain and other road users. I had to keep alert for the days are tricky. Above all I enjoyed the walk, the sights, the people, the cooling breeze hitting my face and frame and the route with all its twists and turns finally routed me home. The walk was mine, the pace was mine and no matter other peoples routine; mine was planned different, timed different and with a different destination. Yes we are in a race but not in competition with anyone. I arrived just as the old man and the lady in black. We all were walking in different paces, styles and to different places. Let thy legs be thy walk.

Picture courtesy of:

Photo by Alexander London on Unsplash

and

urologyofva.net