Every morning, more than a billion people climb out of their beds with tousled hair and droopy eyes. Disregarding their rumbling stomachs and steaming cups of coffee, most head to the bathroom with only one objective: to get their teeth brushed.

Welcome to the new era ' where Electric Power and Girl Power are things of the past and it is Tooth-Power that's synonymous with everything that is in and happening. Teeth are the modern-day VIP's, and are given the recognition they deserve. Have you ever wondered what one would do without teeth? Besides missing out on all the edible goodies, one would end up looking like a mummy unearthed from an Egyptian tomb. 

Nowadays, manufacturing companies give the common man numerous choices to take care of those natural pearls. Toothpastes, like ice-creams, come in all imaginable colors and flavors, ranging from bubble-gum tang to chocolate essence. The makers of toothbrushes bring out their creativity by inventing new varieties to suit all the crevices and undulations in the teeth pattern of different people. However, when I look at my bright red toothbrush, that has a wiggly design on its lacerated bristles and resembles a kid's drumstick, I wonder where precisely civilization is heading.

The early years of our lives are spent in the shadow of the tooth fairy, a childhood fantasy that collects one's broken milk teeth and replaces them with money. Which makes me wonder why her job is not of a more permanent nature. Perhaps tooth fairies are destined to take over as denture-designers in the winter of our lives. But their role just goes to prove how priceless teeth actually are. And that's where dentists come in.

I will be truthful. I am not fond of dentists. Being doomed to savor the inside of their offices from the tender age of 11 and having them poking around in your mouth for the next six years wouldn't make you fond of them either. However, the world believes dentists to be indispensable, and I don't deny being a conformist, so I too swear by it.

Dentists mainly make a person realize the importance of his/her teeth. It is a different matter altogether that they employ the most extraordinary and ridiculous methods during this process. They never pass up the opportunity of making you feel like a mechanical robot with instruments whirring noisily in your mouth, or telling you to open your mouth so wide that you're afraid you might start resembling Shrek. Unfortunately, I've been a victim of all their whims and fancies. Extractions, braces, chin-caps'you name it, and I've had them all. Sometimes I wonder why we're so dependent on them'chimpanzees and orangutans seem to get along pretty well without dentists' toothy grins, don't they?

To end on a slightly contemplative note, did you know that the inventor of the electric chair was a dentist?