Dr. Pedro Coelho, Consultant
A permanent spring
Miguel Esteves Cardoso
It is exactly one year today since I entered Dr Pedro Coelho's surgery.
My teeth were all ruined, had been for many years, and I had become used to speaking with my mouth closed, and avoiding the good life with an open mouth, which is the joy of laughing and smiling and living in society.
A year on, now in the Spring month, and more than ready for the rest of my life, I have a mouth full of new teeth.
And I find myself remembering the last time I could count on all my teeth, I was 20 years old.
Thanks to the full implants, upper and lower, that Pedro fitted in my mouth, with immense care and a confidence that only wisdom bestows, I was able to regain the carefree feeling I thought was lost forever: to forget about my teeth, and live life without thinking about them anymore, and without suffering anymore, or losing anymore, because of them.
Suddenly, I can focus on the things that need my concentration. I can focus on the words I hear, and laugh with them easily. I can focus on what I say, without fear of opening my mouth. I can go everywhere. I can laugh, and make others laugh. I can seduce and charm. I can distract myself and forget myself.
I can be myself.
I am a writer. And whoever writes also writes so as not to appear. But one cannot write life instead of living it. One must live it, even to be able to write about it.
It is the eyes that rule us. It is through the eyes that we judge and are judged.
We speak with our mouths. We look, we have to look at the mouth of the person speaking to us.
So that we can concentrate on what the other person is saying to us, or on what we are saying to the other person, we cannot be distracted by our teeth. We cannot be conscious of them.
We have to forget that they are there. And, to forget, the teeth have to be healthy, they have to all be there, they have to be beautiful.
It's just that our eyes don't forgive. They fix on the smallest stain, the smallest absence, the smallest imperfection.
It’s not just humans: all animals do this. Teeth tell us a great deal, beyond just our age. They reveal much more than that: they are the main indicator of health.
When I had rotten teeth, people thought my whole self was rotten.
They'd come up with explanations for the damage – and they were all bad. Teeth are tell-tale. Teeth really spill the beans.
Among humans, worse than dental decay is the perception of neglect. People know that nowadays it is relatively easy to get your teeth fixed.
Having rotten teeth is not bad luck. It's not a minor issue. It doesn't solicit sympathy.
Having rotten teeth demonstrates indifference, alienation, and a lack of willingness to socialise.
It's not the person who takes a step back when they see a mouth full of rotten teeth who is to blame. They are simply reacting to what they perceive as the other person's aggressiveness and anti-social indifference.
I know there are faster and cheaper implants that require fewer visits. It was precisely the bad, and very bad, experiences of my friends who decided to go for those sorts of things that convinced me to look for Dr Pedro Coelho.
It was really worth it.
Many dentists are careful, and call themselves perfectionists, but Pedro is the embodiment of perfection.
He takes a long time to do things. Time is what matters here. Time is quantifiable. Anyone can claim to be a perfectionist, but for the person sitting in the dentist's chair, it's the time that shows how much care you have.
For a person to forget about their teeth and live without thinking about them, they need to be perfect, and to remain perfect forever.
Perfection is extremely difficult, because it depends on each person. The word “perfection”, much like the word “love”, or “passion”, has been so degraded that it is tempting to abandon it.
But one cannot abandon it. Love, passion, and perfection exist, however much these three words are overused.
To achieve perfection, as Pedro repeatedly manages, requires a lot of experience, great technique, and a highly refined aesthetic sense.
Of these three qualities, aesthetic sense is by far the rarest.
The teeth must follow the face, they must prolong it, they must expose it, they must exalt it, they must illuminate it.
But even if someone else had the experience, technical skill and aesthetic sensibility that Dr Pedro Coelho possesses, what difference would it make?
The difference is time. When you're very good, there's always the temptation to rush, to abbreviate, to delegate: time is money.
The truth is that Pedro doesn’t take long: it’s the others who take too little time.
For something to be done properly – and without that, there is no perfection – it really must be done properly.
That’s what Dr Pedro Coelho does. It takes time, but with every passing year, the time it takes gets shorter and shorter: because it was done properly from the start.
And the sacrifice gradually fades into the uninterrupted pleasure of smile after smile, over the days and years.
No matter how much we read about the new life of those who have regained their teeth, nothing can prepare us for the sense of relief and joy that comes from no longer having to worry about them.
Dr Pedro Coelho restored to me the carefree spirit of my twenties, when the important things were given the full importance they deserved.
A person forgets their teeth in order to remember all other things.
And if that isn’t a miracle, it’s certainly very close to one.
Thank you, Pedro!
Miguel Esteves Cardoso
21.3.24
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