It's more than a month now. I have not started smoking and don't ever plan to.
One morning a couple of years ago I felt a swelling in my gums, but there was no pain. A week later I met my dentist who told me that there was a rotten tooth near the swelling and once that was removed the swelling would subside. I told him I would let him know.
I only had 15 teeth and did not want to lose one more. As there was no pain, I decided to let it be until it started giving me trouble.
In April this year, my gums started paining so I went back to my dentist. He told me to get an X-ray and a 3D image.
After seeing the images my dentist informed me that the swelling had become a cyst and I had to remove it as soon as possible.
I went to the Malar hospital in Adyar in Chennai as I had major surgery there three years ago.
As I have diabetes, the hospital dentist asked me to get a certificate from the diabetologist that I was fit for the procedure.
The diabetologist asked me to get my blood tested. Scutinising my blood report, the diabetologist said my sugar level was high. He changed my diabetes medication and told me to come back after a month.
A month later, the random blood test showed that my blood sugar level had come down. I got a certificate saying that I was fit for the procedure.
The chief dental surgeon at Malar hospital explained that the procedure was a complicated extraction as there was a cyst below the teeth. He would extract two teeth first and then remove the cyst.
I had not want to lose one tooth, and now I was going to lose two. He said he would put sutures to hold the gums together till they healed.
He asked if I smoked and I admitted that I had been smoking for almost fifty years.
He asked if I was a comfortable patient in the dental chair or would I be uncomfortable. I told him that I was most certainly an uncomfortable patient.
He also told me that as they would be performing the procedure under general anaesthesia I should have an attendant with me. I said my younger sister Saraswati would accompany me.
We reached the hospital 15 minutes before the procedure.
My sister was asked to get a few things from the pharmacy. I didn't want to sit there alone, so I went down with her.
I was very nervous. My sister gave me an encouraging hug and said all will be well, don't worry.
The anaesthetist explained to me that he would be administering the anaesthetia intravenously and I would fall asleep.
I did fall asleep, I felt someone pulling out one tooth and then another, but did not feel anything else.
More than an hour passed before I woke up. The dental surgeon had prescribed antibiotics and pain killers. I was told to take the pain killers only if I had any pain. There was also a medicine with which I had to gargle three times a day.
"Please do not smoke till the wound heals," the surgeon said. "If you smoke and the wound does not heal, there is nothing we can do".
The thought of a wound in my mouth not healing was terrifying.
The cyst had been sent for testing and we would get the result in a week.
On the way home we stopped to buy ice cream.
On the doctor's instructions I chewed food only on the left side of my mouth.
That week I had curd rice, Pongal and idlis. I made sure that I did not eat anything hard.
After a week we went for the review. We had to collect the results first. My sister collected it, read it, smiled and then gave it to me. I was relieved and said a silent prayer when I saw that the cyst was benign.
The dental surgeon checked the gums and said the healing was good, then asked if I had started smoking. I said no.
Two weeks later I went to the hospital to remove the sutures. The dental surgeon applied a gel before removing the sutures. "Now you can start chewing from both sides, slowly."
"Have you started smoking?" I said, "No".
It's more than a month now. I have not started smoking and don't ever plan to.
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff
© 2026