Glock

I had my second visit to my new dentist today. Last week he told me that I had a very small bit of decay on a back tooth, but he only did cleaning. Today he told me that he didn't think that decay was what was causing the little twinges of pain I've been getting, which are not serious but were which prompted me to visit in the first place. He looked at my X-rays again, and said that my wisdom tooth on that side, which has not come through, is pushing a bit on the tooth next to it, but he didn't think that was the cause of the trouble either. He can't pinpoint what it is.

He tapped my teeth, and asked me to tell him if any of them felt different, or painful. None did. Then he checked my lymph glands, and discovered that one was a little tender on that side. There is some sort of inflammation somewhere, but he can't figure out where it is.

Since I am going away, he wants to find it quickly, but there is nothing he can do, really, except give me antibiotics to take away with me for if the pain comes back. He said he'd continue with the cleaning, which he hadn't finished, and off he went.

While he was doing this, suddenly I felt pain, and waved my arms. He laughed and said, "Almost finished!" and two minutes later he had finished. The little cavity had been filled. That was a big surprise, but he told me after that he didn't want to use painkiller because it might interfere with the other, unidentified problem. I don't think I have ever had such a fast filling. It was amazing. The Man had told him I was a total wimp about pain, and that's why he did it that way - no warning, just do it and get it over with. I deeply appreciate this. I had been dreading the eventual filling of that tooth, but because I didn't expect it to happen today I was relaxed, and then it was suddenly done.

What a tricky man! Tricky can be GOOD in a dentist, I've decided. I LIKE fillings to be suddenly done. There is no fuss, and especially not from me.

He wants me to go back tomorrow, when he will finish the cleaning (I have never in my life had my teeth cleaned quite so thoroughly, nor so cheaply - I don't know how this guy makes a living if he charges everybody like this) and to see whether the lymph gland is still tender and whether there's anything else he can spot. Aside from that there is not much he can do, he said, but wait and see. The pain is not bad, just the occasional twinge, at night mostly, when I am not distracted and tend to notice it more.

Oh, and I told him about the one-third wisdom tooth on the other side, which had been left there when it broke off and refused to come out that horrible day four years ago. He was surprised, and peered closely at the X-ray.

"It has become a part of the bone," he said.

After a while he added, and I thought I detected a hint of disapproval,

"Did that happen in Japan?"

He did not comment further, but I suspect he was thinking what I was thinking:

If that tooth was so firmly embedded in the bone that means her old dentist was trying to REMOVE HER LOWER JAW. For FOUR HOURS. No wonder she doesn't like going to the dentist!

In other news:

The duck is well, and looked happy, puddling around in the back there. Its name is Glock. The dentist didn't say, but I think the duck told him so. I think the conversation probably went something like this:

Dentist: "What is your name?"
Duck: "Glock."

Makes sense to me, anyway.