If your tooth is bad, lop it off...

Some months ago, I went to the free dental clinic. You might remember the story. Actually, I went twice, but I don't think I blogged about the second time. Anyways, at the first visit they told me I probably needed a root canal but Obama only wants to fix one thing at a time so I would have to come back for that. They scheduled me for March something or other and then I was on tour so I asked for a reschedule and they said I would go on a "waiting list". Envision a skeleton sitting by the phone. A skeleton with no teeth. Something like that was the plan.

I went to plan B: ignore the cavity. It's a brilliant strategy, but it only works for so long. So then the tooth, she breaks. There's no pain, necessarily, just a sharp edge and then my tooth guts up there in my gums. So for months now I have been scheming how to get this taken care of and then today I just was done. I woke up and called a dentist. A regular, non-free, non-welfare dentist. And I went in the SAME day and had a very very quick x-ray. I put it on my "Faith Card" aka Visa...

Sure enough though, the tooth is infected. No wonder I've been having all manner of sinus pain and headaches and such. Sheesh. So I have to take an antibiotic for a couple of days and then get it pulled Friday.

"You don't look nervous, " he says. "You don't look like a nervous patient."

"The only thing that makes me nervous is pain." I told him. He promised to thoroughly numb me, although he said with the tooth being so close to my ears I am going to hear a lot of crackling and popping when he extracts it. "I'll bring my earbuds!" I say, a little nervously.

"You're still gonna hear it" says Dr. Doom.

Nuts. Still, my strategy is to get this thing out ASAP so I can focus on EATING next week.

Sigh. Sigh, sigh sigh.