The Moth Podcast: Jaws
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This summer marks the 50th anniversary of the release of Jaws in theaters, which we probably gave away by playing that clip up top. But you know what this means? This episode is going to be full of stories about, you guessed it, teeth. Yes, we're looking at Jaws, literal Jaws, with stories about dentists, oral care, and mouths of all types. Because sharks are scary, but real terror? That's waiting to get a root canal.

First up is Alexis Trucy, who told this at a Moth Education Story Slam at Beacon High School in New York City, where the theme of the night was risk. Here's Alexis live at the Moth.

Since before I can remember, I've always had a Jay Leno chin. And for those of you who don't know who Jay Leno is, I sort of look like the crimson chin from Tinney Turner. And I attribute this elongated chin to a stark underbite that I had. And so my orthodontics career, and we're going to call it a career, started in third grade with a palate expander.

And then it moved to a headgear, and then it went to another headgear, and then it went to braces. And then at the ripe age of 12, I got my braces off. And I was so elated because it's sixth grade, I'm starting a new school, and I have this smile that lasts for all about six months. And then I have the most demoralizing feeling.

I just spent three years trying to fix this chin that I hated and it grew back because of a growth spurt. Are you serious? And so, and so, and so I understand that

I can't take pictures with my friends because I'm going to be judged for my long chin. I know that I'll wake up in the morning and my chin hurts. And I know that I won't be able to say my name because it has an X and an S and I have a lisp. So it's the summer before sophomore year. And I go to the jaw surgeon. And I'm super nervous. So then I get called into the room and

there's the doctor and he does the epitome of scary doctor which is he turns around in his orthodontics chair and he puts his hand out and he says I'm Dr. Bierman but then he starts talking to me and it's comforting and it's not a conversation with my mom it's not a conversation with the wall it's a conversation with me

And he starts describing what's going to happen. And he says, I'm going to go through your nasal passage and break your top jaw and pull it forward. I'm going to break your bottom jaw, push it back. And then I can manipulate your chin. And I'm like, okay, that sounds okay the way you put it. And then he says, but for the bad news.

"You're gonna be on a liquid diet for six weeks." And my head immediately goes, "It's gonna be the summer, the green market, fruits and vegetables, I'm not gonna be able to eat them. How am I gonna live?" And then he says, "You also have a 15% chance of losing feeling in your bottom lip because we're gonna touch sensory nerves and it's gonna dull in." And then I go, "I have to kiss the entire school. Like, what's gonna happen? I'm not gonna know what it feels like. Oh, my goodness." And in the midst of the chaos, in my head, he says, "Alexis,

"Why do you want to have this surgery?" And I go, "It's really painful. I have a lisp, and I really hate how I look, and I just can't get over it. I just can't do anything that a teenager can do, and I don't want to feel old for the rest of my life."

So then it becomes July 27th and it's 5 o'clock in the morning and I'm elated. I am about to have jaw surgery and I am going to be able to change. I'm going to have the smile that I've always wanted to have. I'm going to be able to be the teenager that I always wanted to be. And so I go up to the man who greets you for surgery and he's like, hello, how are you feeling? And I'm like, excited. And he's like, looks at me like I have seven heads and he's like, great, I'm glad that you're excited. And

They put me into a wheelchair and they wheel me into the surgery room and I'm like, let's turn around because in front of me there's an executioner's table. The arms are out to the sides and it's freezing cold. And so...

They put me down on the bed, and I remember the surgeon said that he plays music during the surgery to have fun. And so I was like, can I request a song? I'm going to do this, so let me get a song. And I look over to my dad, and him and I were on the same wavelength when it comes to music. And so we sort of nod at each other, and we go, show and tell by Al Wilson. So I get 30 seconds into the song, and I black out. And I wake up, and I have...

like bandages all over my face, there's ice packs here, and I'm in a lot of pain, but I'm excited, and I go home, and I get the bandages off, and I go through the pain, but that's what you have acetaminophen for, and you go through a liquid diet, and you invent peanut butter Oreo smoothies, and that's the easy part, and one day, I look into the mirror, and I see myself crying, and

And I'm like, "Why am I crying?" And I realized I don't recognize myself. I don't have my chin to say, "That's Alexis." I don't feel self-conscious anymore. And I'm just nervous that people are going to judge me because I changed who I am. I took the initiative, I took the risk to change how I looked and who I was. But then I thought to myself,

You did take the risk. You wanted to have this change and you did it. And so, although I don't look like the Crimson Chin anymore, I think I'll make a pretty good Superman. Thank you. That was Alexis Trussi. Alexis' dental woes didn't end with surgery, but they thank Dr. Bierman every day for his service. Alexis currently lives and works in Amsterdam, recording podcasts and videos for a Dutch design consulting firm, UNS.

So when Jaws came out, it terrorized legions of children, myself included. And my lifelong phobia number one, sharks, was born. At around the same time, I had to have a tooth pulled. Now, despite what seemed like the right dose of Novocaine, mid-pull, I was aware of every wiggle, every tug. There were screams. There were tears. And phobia number two was born, the dentist. And honestly, to this day, I'm not sure which one affects my life more.

Shania Russell told our next story at her high school, Bronx Academy of Letters in New York City. Here's Shania live at the Moth. So like most traumatic experiences, it started at the dentist. Laughter

It was a regular checkup for me and my brother and when they showed us the x-ray they told us that we both had our wisdom teeth coming in. My brother's had his showing and pushing through his gums and mine were like fine but there. So they told us he needed to set an appointment and I would need to come in eventually after. So like fast forward a couple months we forgot.

And my brother was doing fine. He didn't notice his at all. He seemed fine, but I was starting to feel mine and it was bothering me. But I kept looking at him and he was doing fine, so I ignored it. I started like eating on a different side and shifting how I closed my mouth. And I figured, you know, as long as he's good, I'm good. But eventually it got to the point where I couldn't eat or like my mouth was really uncomfortable, so we had to set the date.

So we went in, we were in the waiting room, we filled out the paperwork, we took the x-ray, and then I found I had like a couple hours in the waiting room because it was so full. So I took out my phone and Googled some stuff, which was a terrible idea.

And I read a bunch of horror stories about how people woke up in the middle screaming with blood coming out of their mouth and like they can't eat anymore. They lost all their teeth. They can't feel their mouth. And I was like, this is great. This is wonderful.

And so they called me in, they showed me the x-ray, they told me I could have two out today, they wouldn't put me under, which was a relief because I didn't want to wake up screaming or anything. And so I thought, let me ask the dentist, she'll reassure me, she'll tell me this, I'll be fine, they do this every day. So I was like, are there any risks? And she was like, oh yeah, of course. Yeah.

She told me that when she had her wisdom teeth out, she just lost all feeling in the right side of her mouth. But it's perfectly fine. She's living with it. And she was...

She was like super casual about it, acting like it was no big deal and I was having a panic attack in my seat. So she sent me back out and was like, "We'll call your name when we're ready." So when they sent me back out, I went to the bathroom and I looked around for a vent. It was not a vent. So I was like, "I guess I have to do this." And I went back out, they called me in.

So they numbed my mouth and they started the work. I put headphones in, pretended it wasn't happening. It seemed fine for a bit and then I heard someone say, "Oh no." And I had a heart attack. It turns out they broke a tooth and so they had to pull out all the pieces. But in the end everything was fine. It went well. I can still feel in my mouth.

And I'd like to say that I learned to stop Googling things or like I'll be productive and set the date to take out the other two teeth, but I have not and I'm planning to put it off for as long as possible. Thank you.

That was Shania Russell. Shania is a Bronx-born writer whose love of storytelling emerged somewhere between The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Twilight. Since then, that passion has evolved from book reports and fan fiction to filmmaking and journalism. She is currently writing about all things pop culture over Entertainment Weekly.

Both of the stories you just heard came from the Moth's Education Program. If you're a young person that's inspired to tell a story or know of someone who might be, the Moth's Education Program has a ton of programs and guidance that help high school and college-age students tell their own story, whether that's up on stage, in their college application essay, or just with their peers. To find out more, go to themoth.org slash edu. After the break, you guessed it, another story about teeth.

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Welcome back. Our final story is a favorite from the archive by Anika Mahajan. She told this at a New York City Grand Slam where the theme of the night was toil and trouble. Here's Anika live at the Moth. Baby shark do do do do do do do do do. Baby shark do do. I was riding my bicycle having a great day. Shark do do do do do do. Oh no, what is that? And do do do do. Fuck! Shit, I think I broke my tooth.

That was three weeks ago. My teeth are still broken, right on time for Halloween. But I apologize if I slur a little bit or spit on some of you in the front row. Now, it was a Friday. I had wrapped up work early and was on my way to yoga. And for some weird reason, this kid's song, Baby Shark, was stuck in my head. And I was too focused on my singing while riding that I didn't see the little bump on the road.

and I lost all control of my bike and came crashing down face first and hit my teeth on the curb. I could hear, I could literally hear my tooth enamel breaking and there was a buzz in my head. I somehow crawled to the sidewalk and felt a gush of blood in my mouth and as I spat it out, couple of pieces of what used to be my chunky Bugs Bunny teeth fell out. I quickly called my husband Arnab and let him know he needs to pick me up at the Greyhound station corner in downtown.

While I waited for him, the pain started to intensify and I was quickly in tears. But through those teary eyes, I saw this man in a fluorescent vest walk towards me with a couple of hand towels with him. He offered them to me and I hesitated to accept just because I didn't want to stain them. But he said he saw me fall and he was worried. And he confirmed that those were washed and clean and insisted I take them.

Now I was already crying but that made me really emotional so I grabbed one of them. He checked if somebody was coming to get me and waited till my husband pulled over and left as gently as he had arrived. Arnab took my bike, mounted it on our car and helped me inside. Once inside, you know almost out of habit, I pulled the sun visor thing down and moved that mirror flap aside and there it was.

Through all the blood, I could see three of my front teeth were shattered at the bottom and my gums were pushed inside. Now having the visual, it was all just too gruesome and too real. I was really shaking and bawling loudly. Arnab tried to calm me down and he said it's all going to be okay. And I remember thinking how sweet he is and how he doesn't deserve a wife with broken teeth. Clearly I needed medical help.

But we were not sure how to get it. Arnab and I have been in the US for eight years. We've steadily built a good life for ourselves here. But luckily, we've kept away from the hospitals and the medical healthcare system overall. So Arnab had to Google what do you do when you are in a bike accident and how the ERs work. So we were really relying on the help and support of the ER staff to get us through this. They had something else in mind.

As we pulled into the lobby, the ER nurse sleepily asked who's the patient. Like all the crying and the blood through my mouth were not clues enough. Work with us here, Sherlock, I thought. Then another nurse who was taking my vitals kept talking over me with her friend about where to find best slurpees in town. I mean, I'm all for good slurpees, but not...

I'm like, this is not the most serious case you have handled this day even. But for us, it is as serious as it gets. And all we were hoping for some assurance, compassion, and perhaps some painkillers. I did not get any for at least two hours. We were sent from one nurse to another to another. Had to wait two more hours to get some tests done. And all this while, my wound was not even dressed. I was still using that same towel to kind of clean the blood off my mouth.

After five long hours, the doctor arrived and let me know that I had a fracture in the gums and then casually exclaimed, I don't know how you're bearing this pain so bravely. Duh. By this point, I was so tired I couldn't even roll my eyes at her. Eventually, I got some heavy painkillers and we were discharged. But months of dental surgeries and reconstruction is still ahead of us.

But in those moments of pain and waiting, both Arnab and I felt helpless, almost lost. I was thinking, is it the system, or is it the people, or is it both? Or is this how things work around here, we just don't know because this is not our home country? Or is this our home? While I was tripping on all these thoughts under the influence of painkillers, I felt the towel in my hand, and it reminded me of the kindness of this one man.

And for some reason, painkillers, I felt in that moment that this towel had given me the strength and his kindness had given me the strength to endure all the pain and get through this ordeal. So I guess all I'm trying to say is that there are moments which make you feel helpless, unwelcome even.

But for every person, process or even administration that makes you feel that way, there will always be that one person who extends that metaphorical towel of welcome, compassion, empathy and comfort. And that makes you believe it's all worthwhile and this can be home. This indeed is home. And I will soon be back on my bike and I will be singing.

Thank you. That was Anika Mahajan. Anika was born and raised in a small town in India and loves telling stories about growing up there in the 90s. She's a technical program manager at Google and enjoys hiking and hosting friends for board games. She lives in California with her husband, four-year-old child Augie, and their Akita dog, Radley.

That's it for this episode. From our mouths to yours, we hope that all your dental visits are as smooth and painless as possible. Suzanne Rust is the Moth's senior curatorial producer and one of the hosts of the Moth Radio Hour. In addition to finding new voices and fresh stories for the Moth stage, Suzanne creates playlists and helps curate special storytelling events.

Anagamaha John's story was coached by Jennifer Hickson. Special thanks to the Moss EDU team and instructors for their coaching of Alex Trucy and Shania Russell's stories.

This episode of the Moth Podcast was produced by Sarah Austin-Ginness, Sarah Jane Johnson, and me, Mark Sollinger. The rest of the Moth leadership team includes Sarah Haberman, Christina Norman, Jennifer Hickson, Kate Tellers, Marina Cloutier, Suzanne Rust, and Patricia Oreña. The Moth Podcast is presented by Odyssey. Special thanks to their executive producer, Leah Reese Dennis. All Moth stories are true, as remembered by their storytellers.

For more about our podcast, information on pitching your own story, and everything else, go to our website, themoth.org.