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Gnashing for Glory

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This is an amusing TF-themed commission for Nex_Canis dealing with some fun ideas - I hope you'll enjoy this and its continuation, and I look forward to reading your comments! Remember that all votes, faves and watches will help others to find these stories to enjoy as well!

Cheers!

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Sam yawned and regretted it immediately. The motion caused a stinging pain that spread along his gums and into his jaw and made the sabretooth tiger flinch. The soreness that had started mildly two days ago had become infuriating the evening before, and now he was sitting on the plastic chair waiting for a dental appointment and feeling lousy. He was tired, he hadn't eaten much, his muzzle tasted bad because when he attempted to brush his teeth last night he'd spat some blood into the sink and given up. It'd almost made him even more sore, and he'd downed the maximum dose of Tylenol and spent the night rolling around. That'd kept Bryson awake, too. The lynx hadn't been very happy when he left for work, a little before Sam for the dental clinic.

His own boss would not probably be happy that he was missing work. This would not look good on his performance report. Hadn't Mister Thompson already flashed that they might be cutting back on the staff on Sam's section, for increasing the efficiency? Sam could tell that this meant that heads were going to roll, and his own might as well be there as well.

"Buh," the sabretooth sighed.

His jaw ached.

"Shit," he groaned.

His stomach decided to grumble. He was starting to feel really hungry, too. Being bored out of his mind at the clinic waiting room didn't help either, nor the semi-argument with his boyfriend in the morning earlier, or the fact that his phone had run out of battery because he'd forgotten to recharge it overnight.

"Perry!" a voice called out. "Mister Perry!"

Sam looked up and down the corridor. A Doberman's head had poked out of a door and was looking about in a similar manner to the sabretooth. The big cat hurried to his paws and headed for the dog in question. The door was opened and the male stepped out, dressed in all whites, hospital clothes, Sam thought, mildly.

"Good morning," the Doberman said to the sabretooth, "welcome."

Sam stepped into the appointment room. Its interior held no surprises - the chair wit hits space age implement, a desk with a computer on it, cabinets overflowing with medical equipment. A wolf sat on a low saddle-like stool, clad in a white smock that was buttoned up to his neck. He flashed a very pearly smile to the sabretooth when he entered.

"Good morning," the wolf said, "you're mister Perry, I understand?"

"Yeah," Sam said.

"Doctor Carmichael," the wolf nodded in greeting before he kicked himself over to the computer.

"Would you please sit down?" the Doberman gestured at the chair. "Let's get you ready."

"And you've been suffering some toothache for the past two days..." the wolf read out from the flatscreen.

"Yeah," Sam said.

"Well, we shall take a look!" the wolf smiled again.

Sam climbed up onto the chair. A buzz of motors signalled the backrest slowly moving down to take him to actual treatment position, so that the world became viewed from a strange angle until he could only see the soundproofing panels on the ceiling. A funny-smelling, rustling sheet of paper was spread over his chest by the nurse, working quietly and efficiently. The same dark paws propped sunglasses onto his muzzle. He could hear the snap of gloves, and smelled further chemical scents that he always associated with such places.

"Are you allergic to any medication, such as painkillers or anaesthetics?" the nurse's muzzle appeared hovering over him, though now covered by a paper mask and goggles.

"I don't think so," Sam mumbled. He was starting to feel that particular kind of nervousness that only appeared when he was spread on the artificial leather of a dentist's chair. He wasn't exactly phobic about it, but there was a certain brand of anxiety that only this prospect could bring.

"Would you like to listen to some music to relax?" the dog asked..

"I'll be fine," Sam said. "I just want this done with."

"Okay."

Now the wolf hovered above him, similarly hidden by his protective gear.

"Can you tell me where the pain is located?"

"Somewhere right and down, maybe on the back" Sam replied. "I spat some blood when I brushed my teeth yesterday.

"We'll see what it's all about," rumbled the wolf through his mask. "Standard kit out?"

"Yes," rumbled the Doberman, accompanied by the clatter of metal or metal.

"Let's go at it," said the wolf doctor, busy at adjusting the bright lamp above the chair so that it pointed at Sam's maw. "And now you just open up and relax. If anything hurts, you just say, and I'll stop. It's usually a very good indication that we're getting close to the source of the problem."

The wolf let out a small chuckle which made the folds of paper on his face mask to move back and forth. Sam made his best to relax, even though it was difficult to do so on command.

The sabretooth opened his muzzle and submitted to the customary poking that ensued when taking this position. He could see, from the little sliver of normal vision under the rim of the sunglasses, the wolf's paws holding a mirror and an angled stainless steel spike on a handle. These instruments went into his maw and the mysterious incantations began. He was peered at and scratched and poked at, and the two canines spoke to one another in the strange coded shorthand that their professional communication used.

"Well there's a little bit of obvious wear on the occlusal surfaces," the wolf mused while poking at Sam's teeth with his steel spike, "do you grind your teeth or have you ever had a retainer or something like that to control it?"

"Uh...I don't know...maybe?" Sam said.

"Been under any unusual stress lately?"

"When aren't I?" the sabretooth chuffed.

"...looks like a small chip on 5B..."

Sam tried to feel restful and let them do their work, but it was difficult knowing that inevitably -

"Ow!" Sam gasped when the sore spot was located by a tap against his tooth that sent the familiar painful sensation through his jaws.

All activity ceased within his oral cavity.

"Hmm..." rumbled the wolf, "30 M..."

"Spray?" the Doberman asked.

"Yeah, gimme the sprayhead and the Willie..."

A hose was passed down and a plastic nozzle entered his maw before weird-tasting compressed air blew into Sam's gums. He hissed a little again at the discomfort, but at least it was a brief one.

"I'll feel this up a bit..."

Something sharp nudged against his sore gum.

"Ah..."

"There...looks like bit of a defect on pocket on 32M...about 3...3 point 1..."

"Let's wash this..."

Water splashed over his tongue and dribbled down to the back of his muzzle while a suction tube tried to do its best at taking out most of it before it could cause the sabretooth to choke up. Sam thought he could taste blood.

"Right..."

Fingers poked into his muzzle and grabbed a hold of the tooth, before it was tugged from side to side. That was mostly just weird.

"Mobility is okay. Root is probably good."

"Omethn onng?" Sam mumbled against the fingers in his muzzle.

The wolf's blue-rubbered fingers were withdrawn and his ghostly masked figure peered down at him, through the shades.

"Looks like there's a calculus formation on one of the molars, it looks like that it could be gathering plaque in there and causing irritation. The gum looks a bit irritated so I think that if we flush it out, it should improve. We can also check if there's an actual cavity in there. It's a simple procedure."

Shit, Sam thought.

"Is it gonna take long?" he asked, still worried about work. He was already hopelessly late and was sure that even though he did call in sick, he'd still be in deep trouble.

"Not at all, half an hour at most if there is a cavity," the wolf said, "but it is uncomfortable. Would you like some anaesthetic?"

Sam groaned.

"Oh, crap," he said.

"It will be painless with anaesthesia," the Doberman nurse spoke in a soft tone. "We can give you something to help you relax, if you like."

"Yeah, sure," Sam said. "Whatever you can do."

"Then we'll do just that," said the wolf. "Wesley, the anaesthetic cart, please."

Sam could hear the shuffling of equipment behind him. He wasn't sure what to think of that. He was just generally feeling nervous about this whole thing. Them needing to knock him out to do it didn't make him feel confident that it wasn't quite as simple as they were saying it was.

"We're going to administer nitrous oxide by mask," the wolf dentist explained while the Doberman prepared his equipment, "it'll make you feel very relaxed and tired, but you'll be back to normal as soon as we cut off the gas, so you able to leave right away."

"Gotcha," Sam mumbled.

He felt fingers touch his left paw, and something was placed onto his index finger, squeezing on it.

"I'll just pop this onto your finger, it will monitor your heartbeat and blood oxygen levels," the Doberman told him while peering down at Sam, "okay...size 3 mask?"

"Ought to be right," the wolf said.

The Doberman's gloved pas appeared, holding something on them.

"i'll just pop this over your nostrils, and you just lift your head a bit so that I can get this strap on."

A green elastic hooked the mask onto Sam's muzzle, with small, soft plastic buds entering his nostrils. It made him sniffle. The Doberman felt up the fit and squeezed on Sam's nosepad a little. That felt weird.

"Alright, I'm just going to turn this on now, you should breathe slowly through your nose."

There was a loud hiss, followed by rush of cool, dry air into Sam's nose. It made him cough once, but he recalled the advice and began to draw breaths through his muzzle. So far it didn't make him feel any different.

"Okay, that's good, just keep breathing, and I'm now adding the nitrous into the mix..." said the Doberman, "just keep breathing slowly...like that...good...you're doing great, Sam. Just keep going."

At first Sam couldn't tell anything was going on. He just kept on breathing, his chest rising and falling slowly and steadily.

His toes started to tingle.

"Weird..." Sam mumbled.

"Starting to feel something, Sam?" the wolf spoke up.

"20 percent now," the Doberman said.

"M-maybe..." Sam replied.

His eyelids began to droop.

"Mmmyeah...maybe..." the sabretooth mumbled. His tongue was heavy and his voice wavered. His tail wobbled lazily against the edge of the chair.

"25 percent, " the Doberman said.

"Sam, can you tell me your full name?" the wolf asked.

Could he?

"Sam...John...P..Ph...Perry."

"All looks good," the Doberman noted.

"Sam, count up from 3 always adding three, so like 3, 6 and so on."

"Uh...okay...ah...3...hmm...6....what...what was it...eh...9..." Sam thought it was a bit weird a thing to ask of him, but he did as he was told. He was feeling so sleepy and nice, very relaxed alright. Didn't even have to worry about the job now that he was just lying down and having a doze.

"Okay, I think we're all set," the wolf said. "Give me the jelly on the roll and the air tip."

Sam didn't really care anymore about what the wolf was doing to him, poking around his muzzle. That his of gas in his ear was quite relaxing. Almost hypnotic, really.

"Yeah, right...here I'm just sleeping when I should be working..." the sabretooth slurred.

"Sounds like the gas is working alright," the Doberman noted.

"Hmmm...yeah, Mister Roberts...your personnel cuts...ssss...shcrew that...." Sam mumbled away. "Watwuwwinewer..."

"He just doesn't stop does he?" the nurse suggested, looking at the sabretooth's lips move even around the doctor's fingers.

The wolf chuckled.

"Sometimes they get very chatty, don't they?" he mused to the Doberman. "Give me another roll on the tweezers."

They passed instruments and proceeded with the operation to tweak Sam's teeth. The inebriated sabretooth continued his quiet, woozy confessional under the effects of the laughing gas clouding his mind.

"...bween shkewet in de afff enouff anyway..." the sabretooth went on, "fiwe me iff you like...all's fuwed up anyway...Bwyon's gonna leave me me too pwobabwy...hew been diwtant lately..."

"Talk about some drama," the Doberman chuffed.

"Whuwt?" Sam mumbled, ears perking up.

"Nothing, Sam, just keep breathing steadily," the wolf told him in a reassuring tone that Sam just wanted to obey. "Okay, suction and the wash."

"Hsssshhhhh" went the rushing water and air in his muzzle.

"owblesssh and wiwout boywiend...well done Sham Pewwy..." the sabretooth garbled on. "Whah..."

"Caries indicator."

"Ow couwe ey woud shay itth my fault fhat everyfythin if goin shiwt fow me...juft too lassshy ann..."

"Could you please hold it for a moment, Sam?" the wolf spoke calmly. "I'm doing something just a little tricky here so it's best if you don't move at all."

"Hmmm..." the sabretooth mumbled.

Gloved fingers once again entered his muzzle and felt around. Sam could vaguely hear something scraping against one of his teeth, but there was no pain. He was just feeling giddy and worry-free.

"Alright, Sam," the wolf spoke behind him, "I'm going to use a special cleaner now on your teeth, to get some of that plaque off and make sure that you won't be having further trouble so that your sore tooth can heal properly."

"Hmmmkay..." the cat agreed.

"Just close your eyes and relax, it won't take very long and then we'll be all done."

"Hmmm...hmmm..." Sam buzzed away.

"How's the gas?" the wolf asked from his nurse.

"Still at 25," the Doberman replied. "Vitals are steady."

The wolf looked down at the practically asleep sabretooth. The only sound was the constant hiss of the oxygen-laughing gas mix flowing into the feline's nosepiece and through that into his lungs to further dull his faculties with every breath he drew.

"Good," said Doctor Carmichael , "crank it down to 10. He won't need more for now."

"Yes, Doctor," the dog said.

The wolf peered down upon the sabretooth's face, observing his closed eyes through the shades the cat wore. His breathing was slow and steady, tinged with a rumble. He looked utterly peaceful now, in a great contrast to his earlier rumbled rant about his current circumstances. The wolf noted as much, as he began to untie the top cords that held his surgical mask on.

"Just relax, Sam..." spoke the wolf, "just concentrate on the sound of my voice."

"Yessss..." hissed the sleepy cat, his eyes closed and his mind...somewhere else.

The wolf released the cords and let the mask flop down over his chest, held onto his neck by the lower ties. Its presence was not a hindrance for him, not now. He even took off his goggles and put them down to a nearby instrument tray.

"Just listen...and keep your muzzle open...just like that..."

"Hmmm..." the sabrecat's tongue made a vague motion as he mumbled in affirmation.

"That's good, Sam. Just keep listening. I'm just about to start. Just keep breathing. This may feel a bit strange, but it is very effective."

"Hmmmmmmmmm..." the sabrecat sounded earnest.

Unseen by the sleepy feline, the wolf brought his left, then his right index finger up to his maw. The gloved fingers emerged glistening with copious amounts of the wolf's saliva. The Doberman nurse seemed either completely unaware or unbothered by what the dentist was doing. He simply sat there on his own stool, quietly watching the little monitor that showed Sam's slow, steady heartbeat as a languidly bouncing zigzag pattern.

"Now...hssss...." the wolf murmured.

The dentist's fingers slipped into the sabrecat's maw and began to stroke along his gums. He moved very slowly, along the lower jaw, going from the center towards the ends of the mandible he was now palpating with his fingertips. Unknown to his patient, the fingers were covered in the wolf's saliva that hence got transferred from the lupine's muzzle and into Sam's very own. He didn't notice a thing, he was too far gone in the anaesthesia and the calming presence the wolf's softly spoken words created. The touch of those fingers didn't feel bad at all, either, slow, circular movements against the bases of his teeth.

"Hmmm...very good..." the wolf commented, "just keep relaxing like that."

He withdrew his fingers, licked them once more, and they returned into the sabrecat's muzzle to continue the strange ritual that now took place in this otherwise very mundane, spotless examination room. The remarkably slick, voluminous saliva was transferred with every motion and rubbed in, part of it also mixing freely with Sam's own spittle on the bottom of his maw. He even swallowed some of it, as one was prone to do while undergoing dental procedures and there was any kind of irritation that prompted such a reflex to happen.

The wolf's fingers moved slowly, covering both the lower and the upper jaw with his special brand of massage. The woozy sabrecat was entirely unaware to the proceedings happening in his maw, and only felt the brush of fingertips and a slight tingling sensation, over his gums, and his tongue and on the back of his throat. It would've been easy to dismiss it simply as some local anaesthetic at work, should he have had the presence of mind left to care about such things. He simply felt very relaxed, and all the worries of the day - toothache, job trouble, boyfriend problems - they seemed to have faded away while he rested on some sort of a warm mattress.

...

"....Sam? Sam? It's time to come back to this world...."

The sabretooth could feel someone shake his arm, and that prompted his eyes to drop open. He drew a deep breath, and it smelled of the usual odd mixture of latex and antiseptics he imagined were part of such a place. His tongue felt somewhat numb, and his maw was oddly dry, but he did not feel any toothache at the moment, for sure, while he blinked hard and flexed his somewhat numb fingers.

"Uh..."

"Yeah, it's time to be back with us," someone said, hovering over him.

The wolf...

Sam blinked again. The wolf was no longer wearing his protective mask, and had rolled his stool some distance away, as well.

"We're all done here," the wolf said.

The dental nurse, a Doberman, removed the protective paper from over Sam's chest and did some other fussing around, too, which must've been part of his job and not meant for Sam to observe so closely, since the wolf spoke up again.

"I did some cleaning of your teeth under anaesthesia," the doctor explained, "everything looks good but there were a few spots of deeper calculus that we're going to have to deal with later on. How does your teeth feel like?"

Sam ran his tongue over his teeth. They felt smooth, and a bit strange, as if someone had filed them down or something. He remembered that sensation from previous visits, for sure. They must've done that now, too.

"They seem...okay..." he replied.

"I cleaned up the sore spot, so you shouldn't be experiencing any particular discomfort," the doctor explained, "you can eat and drink normally, and if you have any soreness, you can take a paracetamol for the pain."

"Oh...okay..." Sam said. He moved his jaws up and down a bit, and didn't feel any pain at the motion. "It does feel good now..."

The wolf flashed him a smile, full of his own perfectly white, straight, pearly teeth.

"Excellent!" he clapped his knee with one paw. "Now, you should talk to the receptionist for a further appointment so that we can do the rest of the cleaning. I'm afraid we've got another urgent patient coming in, since these are only short appointments to fix urgent stuff like cavities and the like. We have a rather flexible schedule at the moment, so you should be able to find some suitable appointments from us. And if you have any further trouble, just call our hotline, yes?"

"Uh...yeah,"Sam mumbled. "I shall."

"Ah..." the wolf said before kicking himself back over to the chair, "let's get you off that thing..."

He lifted the chair with a foot-pedal operated control, which raised the backrest and moved the entire chair so that Sam could more comfortably jump down.

"Unless you have other questions, that's it for now," the wolf said, "I hope you have a good day."

"Uh...okay. thanks," the sabrecat said.

"Till later!" the wolf sounded cheerful.

Sam wandered out of the examination room, leaving the dentist wolf and his Doberman nurse together. The wolf was still smiling, as he stretched his paws over his head and gave himself a good roll of the shoulders.

"So it begins," the wolf stated.

"Yes, Master," the Doberman murmured while glancing at the wolf with adoring eyes.

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