A horrible visit to the dentist, but lovely adventures in Bath

The trouble with tooth conditions or mouth conditions in general  is that things can get worse and worse over a period of time and it is similar to  the boiling frogs syndrome, you don’t realize how much you accommodate or shall we say over- adapt to a dysfunctional situation.

I have been suffering from a rogue tooth that has a mind of its own including moving around in its allotted space and infecting the tissue around it with its slow motion dancing. I visited my dentist yesterday Monday 16th and was inter alia given a course in antibiotics.

By rights the offending tooth would have been removed on that occasion but I made the mistake of taking aspirin (‘the enemy of dentists’) which is a blood thinner so that precluded me from having the necessary intervention yesterday as there would have been excessive post-operative bleeding. 

I did not sleep last night and wrote a very honest letter to the dentist saying that I could not eat, did not sleep, and I needed something else done pronto. Fortunately the surgery took me at my word and I was  contacted at 10:31 inviting me to come along to surgery at 12:45 today.

Anyway, I jump ahead of myself.

I had an appointment this morning at 9:40 with the  ENT (ear nose and throat) department of the RUH in Bath. I understand from notices in the corridors that this hospital is among the top 20 best hospitals in the country to work in. Good to know. Anyway I go along there with a positive attitude and am not disappointed.

I hate hearing, usually on the MSM, that the NHS is on its knees.

I crept out in the early morning bravely wearing my shorts and  took the 7.15 522 bus to Bath and from thence the city bus to the hospital.   I enjoy having my breakfast in the hospital restaurant and I ordered a customary five item breakfast. It was £5.25 with a free coffee but here’s the thing. So great was my disconnect between how I actually was and my traditional habits that I made the mistake of ordering food that I could not eat.

Even when trying to east scrambled eggs or baked beans  the experience was still too painful because of the aforementioned rogue tooth so the best I could do was to nibble at it as best I could but eventually – guiltily – threw the rest in the bin.

I found this idea of progressive disconnect most interesting and will bear it in mind in other aspects of my life. This phenomenon was certainly relevant in my first marriage and more generally

Thoughts on adaptability in general

Human adaptability helps us survive and grow, but sometimes we over-adapt to harmful conditions instead of resisting them. This can happen in personal, professional, or societal contexts.

For example, people often stay in toxic environments—whether in relationships or workplaces—adjusting their behavior rather than seeking change. Over time, this leads to emotional exhaustion and lost opportunities. Similarly, many adapt to stress by forming unhealthy habits, like poor diets or excessive screen time, which become ingrained.

On a broader scale, societies sometimes accept negative changes rather than challenge them. Historical examples show how communities normalize oppressive policies simply by adjusting expectations.

While adaptability is essential, it’s important to recognize when change demands resistance rather than compromise. Instead of conforming to difficult circumstances, we should ask whether they truly deserve acceptance or action.

Balancing flexibility with critical awareness ensures that we don’t just survive but actually thrive, making choices that safeguard well-being, integrity, and purpose.

My ENT Appointment

To C37 which is the Consulting room suite area,  to be introduced to a very friendly and almost avuncular doctor who must have been Muslim because he was called Muhammad.

Best of luck to anyone who tries to search through local telephone directories where they exist how common is the name Muhammad.
Approximately 60% of people named Mohammed live in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan. In the UK in England and Wales in 2023, Mohammed was the top choice for parents naming their baby boys. See chart. 

My consultation

I love the way that in the NHS, the practitioner or consultant has all your records to hand.

He gave me a nasal endoscopy to see that all was well in my throat area. I hate having things shoved up my nose, and more so with endoscopy down the throat; I have this huge gag reaction which I cannot control. However the consultant moved the tubular camera very gently down my nasal passage and it was actually alright.   

To my relief there was no sign of tissue degeneration and there was no sign of cancer.

They had introduced a new procedure called (roll of drums) PIFU patient initiated follow-up.

 The slip of paper I was given after the 10 minute consultation read as follows:

 “following your consultation today you do not have another appointment booked for the ENT department. However you will remain on our system for a PIFU which will last for the next six months. If you feel you need to see a hospital clinician again during the next six months with the same condition, please contact us”. 

This is a method of taking the burden from the general practitioner at the home surgery and I think it is a very progressive step. Well done RUH (again)

Reflections on Bath

Since I had no further business I decided to return to the bus station and jumped on one of the many local buses to Midsomer, the 522. It is not my favorite bus because  although it goes to Bristol it goes via Keynsham which adds about 15 minutes to the journey as opposed to the 172 which goes far more direct route.

Only locals will be interested in what I have just said but you never know, one of these days you might end up in this area.

I wonder how many other refugees there will be from London, in our case Dulwich and Haverstock Hill,  and will find themselves ending up in Somerset. It is very accessible to the M5, M4, trains, coaches, the south coast, and also Bristol, Bath, Frome, Wells, even good old Glasto so who knows which of my readers might decide to take the plunge.

If so, feel free to contact me and I will give you a few tips.

…..My goodness I have digressed again.  Sitting in the bus was where I got the call from the dentist offering a  12:45 appointment mentioned above. I now had a couple of hours to kill and what better place than Bath to do this.

I hastily got off the bus, to the bemusement of the driver no doubt, and off I went.

A wander round Bath

The view from Pultney Bridge. The gardens are on the right, out of sight.

Those who have been to Bath will be familiar with the delightful Bath City Parade Gardens adjacent to the River Avon, the sluice, the moored boats, all a delightful feast for the eye especially bearing in mind that this is full tourist season now with coaches turning up every 10 minutes or so to disgorge another load of Americans, Germans, Japanese, Spanish – most nations really.

This small city (less than 100,000 residents) deserves its reputation as a very compact tourist spot where you can leave your car at the park and ride, come into the center and enjoy reaching all the main features on foot. Or you could arrive by train or coach as the stations are on the immediate south side of the historic and cultural aspects of Bath. Don’t forget the Roman Baths over two centuries ago based on thermal springs. 

Anyway, the gardens have been made free of charge for an experimental period of one year. They normally collected £100,000 p.a. in entrance fees so something must have happened to sacrifice this income source. Ours to wonder why, theirs to reason.

According to the young man who was maintaining rose bushes by the band stand, trimming and dead heading, this has been a mixed blessing and it didn’t take me long to find out why. Bath Council foolishly left the gates open at night which led the way to all sorts of mischief-makers doing destructive acts, riding around on bikes, creating general mayhem.

After a few short weeks the Council realised that they actually had to lock the gate and since then, these antisocial problems have diminished. 

I spoke to three people in the gardens, one was a girl from the Caribbean who was instinctively dancing to music and I told her that she had been dancing all her life, had it in her soul,  and probably came out of her mother’s womb dancing.

I mentioned the rose trimmer. He comes once a month to the gardens but there is only one member of staff permanently employed there.

I spoke to a lady with her husband sat on a bench who was immaculately dressed in a variety of silks, scarves, beads, a lovely Spanish dress with very nice shoes and I remarked that she herself was a delightful work of art. Her husband was less than impressed when I said that women are consistently better at how they dress up in public than some of the men I could name.

I met a young couple and their young child called Evelyn who immediately stood out as being secure in the knowledge of being loved. I said to the parents that whatever they were doing they should carry on doing it.

I always walk away after I have said my bit, a bit like the magician Dynamo, it’s adds to the impact when you expect nothing in return i.e. it is not a chat up line.

I like to give people cause to think but most of all I like to encourage and praise them. I do not expect to see them again.  It could be classified as ‘Random Acts of Kindness’

Did you know that the concept of “random acts of kindness” gained traction in the late 20th century, with the phrase “random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty” popularized by writer Anne Herbert in 1982. The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation was later established in 1995 in Denver, Colorado, to promote and encourage these acts. Random Acts of Kindness Day is celebrated annually on February 17th, originating in 1995 in Denver, Colorado.

MORE IMAGES TO COME.  THEY ARE NOT LOADING FOR SOME REASON.

My (only) horrible dental experience

You could not ask for a nicer or more experienced practitioner than David Morley who is the principal dentist at Wellswaydental.co.uk  I have had my teeth completely reconstituted with him over the last nine years. I can describe this tooth removal, the rogue tooth, as one of the most painful procedures I have had to undergo. It wasn’t even a wisdom tooth, which must be a nightmare to remove. 

I am a pansy when it comes to pain. I dread to think how I would survive torture, I doubt if I actually would because my heart is prone to eurythmy and if placed under severe stress I would keel over. David gave me three times as much numbing agent as he would normally give but in spite of that the procedure was painful. Cracking sounds that you can do nothing about apart from grunt. 

After a time waiting for the agent to work he got his specialist pliers and started to yank the tooth out.  The mouth is the most vulnerable part of the body with regard to doing interventions because without the mouth you cannot speak and cannot eat and cannot do anything really. He pulled and pushed using quite a lot of physical strength and it took about a minute to dislodge the tooth. It seemed like forever.

A tooth is a bit like an iceberg in that the majority of it is below the gum and I reckon the ratio is one to two, certainly enough to shift this resident of the best part of 81 years from its perch. I reckon pain in the mouth is worse than a pain in pretty much every other part of the body because it is you,  the very you, and you can’t take your mouth out.

I mumbled some words of thanks, not very enthusiastically I must admit, and walked out into the fresh air where conveniently a bus was waiting. I was in such pain I had to hold my head in my hands. I don’t know what the other people on bus thought of me. After about 90 minutes the worst of the pain disappeared and I took some paracetamol and some Ibuprofen to calm things down.

Three hours later I had something to eat and it was chalk and cheese. Where did the pain go?   I was able to eat with no problem whatsoever. Amazing.

I was told to continue my antibiotic procedure because there is infection in the gum and that may reveal itself in the adjacent teeth.