Whirr!

It all started with a piece of baked stuffed salmon in the cafeteria.  It was even slightly undercooked so it was tender and moist.

I was enjoying it when somehow it wrenched a crown out.  Now salmon joins the list of taffy, licorice and clam chowder as things which have pulled crowns out, not to be confused with the list of cheez-its and life savers as things which have broken teeth, which results in root canals and crowns.

So the next day I called the dentist.  Unless it hurts, never do two things involving the dentist on the same day.

She urged me to come in immediately, so she could cement it back in.  Apparently bad things can happen if you leave a tooth stump exposed to the real world for a week or two.

I went in, she cemented the crown back in, announced to me that she was retiring this year and said, "You know, Peter, you haven't had your teeth cleaned or had an oral examination in eight years.  You view dentists as emergency stations.  Oh, by the way, you have a bad cavity I noticed in there which you really should get filled."

Hmm.  She's the best dentist I ever had.  "You're leaving?" I thought.  "But what about me?"

The reason she's the best dentist I ever had is because she's never hurt me, in addition to being a superlative dentist.  In 2011 she was rated one of the best dentists in the DC area by the Washingtonian magazine.  Plenty of dentists have hurt me, not on purpose of course, beginning with Dr. Lipscombe on Staten Island who drilled out seven probably shallow cavities when I waved off Novocain in a show of bravado as a young boy.

Ever since that day, I have always looked for the back door in any lay-down chair I put myself in, an escape route I can utilize when I hear that Whirrr!  So, what does this have to do with a running blog?  Well, more to come about my dental woes, it's part of how life intrudes, but also as I discovered today when I arrived early and explored a bit, her office is half a block off MP 17 on the W&OD Trail and my house is half a block off MP 7 on the W&OD Trail.  Hmm.