(Photo by Shiny Diamond)

“I think I’m clenching my teeth in my sleep,” Sandra said as she got ready for the day.

“What makes you think that?” Paul asked, holding up two ties and considering which one to wear.

“Because my teeth hurt,” Sandra half laughed as though it should have been obvious.

“Want me to schedule a visit to the dentist?”

That was the question, wasn’t it. Sandra wasn’t sure if her discomfort was enough to make her want to see the dentist. Nothing against dentists, but, well, she really didn’t like going to them. Did anyone really enjoy it? Sandra doubted it very much. Still, she was grateful for dentistry in general. Having good teeth, treating cavities before they became big problems and losing teeth to decay was a huge benefit to living in a modern society.

And yet…

“That a no, then?” Paul asked when Sandra didn’t respond.

“No. I mean,” Sandra bared her teeth to herself in the mirror and turned her head from side to side to see if there was anything else that could explain the mild, throbbing pain she felt. “It’s just–

She gently tried to wiggle one of her front teeth and to her horror it came right out, root and all

“Oh! Ooooh no!”

She hopped up and down, still holding the tooth with her fingers and not sure what to do. A thin line of blood dribbled from the empty tooth socket in her mouth.

“What’s wrong?” Paul hurried over and then paled at the sight. He’d never been good around blood. “What’d you do?”

“I didn’t do anything! I just tried to wiggle it and,” she held the tooth out for him to see and he leaned back as though worried he’d get blood on his clothes.

“Well, just put it back!” he cried out while taking another step away.

“Okay, and you call the dentist.”

“On it.”

This was not a great start to the day and already Sandra was prepping herself for the phone call with her manager that she was not looking forward to. She had plenty of sick leave saved up but that didn’t mean Mr Colson would be pleasant about letting her use any of it.

Carefully, Sandra angled the tooth back into place, using the mirror to make sure she had it it right.

“There,” she sighed.

Click-tick-tick-tick

That was a strange sound and Sandra looked around and then down to the sink before her just in time to see another tooth slide down the drain. She looked up at once to her reflection and the tooth beside the one she’d just put back was now missing.

“No, another one just feel out and now it’s in the drain.”

“What?” Paul came back over to her, his cell phone held up to his ear. “I’m scheduling you for 10AM,” he added in a whisper.

“I just lost another tooth,” Sandra was almost crying now as she pointed to the gap.

She could even feel the first tooth beginning to slide back out and tried to use her tongue to push it back into place. All she accomplished was knocking it back out. Both Sandra and Paul watched as it tumbled to the ground.

Paul hurried back out, telling the receptionist that it was two teeth, now, that had fallen out.

“Get a cup of milk,” he called back. “Put the teeth in that until you get to the dentist.”

Sandra hurried to the kitchen to do as he said. She was almost running as she reached the fridge and pulled out the milk. She had a cup already by the sink and she poured in more than she’d meant to. She doubted she needed a full glass. Really, just enough to keep the teeth covered should be enough. She raised the glass to her lips and started drinking down the excess milk.

A solid and somewhat sharp something went down her throat. She gagged but whatever it was, and she had a terrible suspicion as to what it had been, was already gone down and into her stomach. She probed her gum line with her tongue to see what tooth had now fallen out and in so doing pressed three more teeth out. They landed in the cup of milk she was still holding, thankfully, but now she was in full panic mode. Teeth did not just spontaneously begin falling out of your mouth, right?

“Paul!” she shouted and then slumped to the floor as he legs gave out from beneath her. She managed to keep most of the milk left in the cup from spilling out but still got a fair amount of it down her front.

“What is it?” he asked as he rushed down the hall to her. “Are you okay?”

“Do I look okay?” she gave him a wide grin that showed off the missing teeth.

“What did you do?” he asked, sitting down beside her and looking even more alarmed now.

“Nothing,” she insisted. “I just,” she poked at her teeth with her tongue again and, again, more teeth came clattering out. “Why?” she began to cry, now plucking teeth out one by one and adding them to her cup. “They just keep coming.”

Paul grew shaky as he watched, a look of disgusted fascination on his face.

“Are they all just coming out?” he asked.

“Eashy ash can be,” Sandra replied, her voice slurring now with so many teeth gone.

“Does it hurt?”

Sandra paused between molars and then removed one slowly, considering the question.

“Ith feelsh bether with them outh.”

“That is so gross,” Paul could help but say.

Sandra finished removing her teeth and then realized she needed more milk.

“Here,” she said, handing the cup to Paul. “Fill ith up. I needth thoo lie dthown.”

As soon as Paul accepted the cup, Sandra slid sideways and lay down on the floor. She felt nauseous and cold and was pretty sure she was going to pass out. She closed her eyes as everything dimmed around her and welcomed the quiet oblivion.

“Hey, you need to wake up,” Paul’s voice cut instantly into her brief sleep.

“Leave me alone,” she waved an arm in his general direction.

“You’re gonna be late.”

“It’s not ten yet,” she said with a fair amount of confidence. She couldn’t have been asleep for four hours already.

“You have to be to work in an hour.”

“I’m not going to work looking like this.”

She was getting angry now. How could he even think she would even consider going into work with her teeth all missing. She wanted to drift back to sleep but the conversation had been going on long enough now that she was waking up whether she wanted to or not. With that dawning awareness, she found she was no longer on the kitchen floor, but in her bed. Had she been so out of it that Paul carried her back to bed without waking her? Maybe she had been asleep for longer than she thought.

Sandra pushed back the blankets and was surprised to find that she was back in her pajamas.

“Come on sleepyhead,” Paul came over and poked her in the side and then held out a pair of ties. “Which one looks good with this shirt?”

Sandra stared at him in disbelief. Was he just trying to pretend everything was normal for her sake? Calm her down with some normal conversation?

“You gonna get up and get ready for work?”

“Are you kidding?” she demanded. “I can’t go to work like this.”

She gestured to her face and Paul gave her a confused look.

“You need me to get you your makeup?” he asked, the words coming out slowly as if he were trying to guess what she was thinking.

“No, my teeth!” she opened her mouth and pointed.

It was only then that Sandra realized she could feel her teeth in her mouth. She ran her finger over them. They were all there and none were loose.

“You feeling okay?” Paul asked, now looking more concerned and sitting down on the side of the bed.

“Oh, sorry,” she gasped. “I just…I had a dream. It…I didn’t realize it was just a dream.”

“About your teeth?”

“They all started falling out,” she nodded, “I had a cup of milk with all my teeth in it and I just had bloody gums left in my mouth.”

“Gross,” Paul shuddered. “Remind me not to ask about your nightmares.”

Sandra agreed and decided that going into work today was not the worst thing she could be dealing with. It was all in perspective, really, and all things considered, she’d happily go into the office instead of deal with all her teeth falling out.