Date of Award
Spring 5-22-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Painting
First Advisor
Yasi Alipour
Second Advisor
Dana DeGiulio
Third Advisor
Meena Hasan
Abstract
My wisdom teeth were extracted in November 2025. I put it off for 5 years. In 2019, my first wisdom tooth emerged as a blood blister. It grew through a vein. I attempted to pop the blister, but instead pulled on the vein, which was so viscerally disturbing that I almost fainted. Every night that followed, I stood at the mirror over the bathroom sink and poked at it. Eventually, enough of the tooth showed that I needed to scrape stuff out of the crevices. It resulted in about a year of having a hole in my mouth that I was very aware of. After a year and a half, it had grown enough that it became useful for chewing. At this point though, it had been a hole in my gum for long enough that I had a cavity in the tooth. A new hole growing where there had been a hole.
I felt attached to the tooth despite the decay that might have slowly degraded my health. It wasn’t until I learned that cavities can pass on tooth decay to fetuses that I decided to get it taken out. I desperately wanted to hold onto the tooth, and I had to see several dentists to find an oral surgeon that would even consider letting me keep it.
On the day of the appointment, I brought the oral surgeon a fake tooth in an Altoids container. I sculpted it from clay and watercolored a cavity onto it. I thought it was kind of trompe-l’oiel and cool. It had the same cavity placement of the tooth he was removing. The surgeon said he didn’t want it, but he agreed to try and save my tooth. I was so relieved, and clung onto this agreement as they tried to place the IV. Two of my veins collapsed before the nurse was able to get the catheter to stay in place. I fought through the fog of waking up from anesthesia. The first thing I asked the nurse, carefully making my mouth form the shapes to say the words, “Did he save my tooth?” She said yes, showing me the plastic pouch they put my tooth in, fitting it inside the box with the fake tooth companion.
Recommended Citation
Horgan, Isabel, "all the hours of light" (2026). Masters Theses. 1603.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/1603
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