I was on deadline last week, so I didn't get to write anything about my appointment last thursday (which I first went to on wednesday, because deadline obsession does not concern itself with such petty matters as dates -- although I would have been fine if I'd just waited for my computer to tell me to get in the car). My dentist and her assistant Birgit rattled on about any number of things, including Birgit's small daughters aversion to ducks since being bitten on the finger by one at a petting zoo. (I traded my bitten-by-a-duck-at-a-later-age story, but didn't mention either my intimate knowledge of waterfowl mouthparts as a result of editing an article on vertebrate filter feeders or my oldest sister's childhood trauma of being attacked by crows.)
My dentist wants me to try and make some hard candy with Xylitol (which is a five-carbon sugar that apparently alters the mix of bacteria in your mouth to be nicer to your teeth). Some industry rep dropped off a huge cocaine-looking five-pound bag at the office the other week, and it's also available at one of the local supermarkets. Why she wants me to do this I don't know, except that maybe she senses in me a kindred loon.
While the novocaine was setting up, I learned all about the foibles of her new magnifying specs -- she gets a little seasick when she looks up after a long spell inside a patient's mouth, and the field of view is much narrower, so "people don't have lips any more". But she can probably see as much fine detail on a tooth as you can feel with your tongue, which is saying something.
Only one more amalgam filling session left, and then we start on the composite fillings for the front teeth. After that, of course, the real work begins...
Posted by wallich at March 23, 2004 12:40 AM