~ Friday, April 20, 2001 ~

 

11:53 p.m. I will never be a big fan of flossing. I will probably never even get the hang of it. Plus, I think it's potentially dangerous, as I so clearly proved last night.

I was tired; I didn't want to floss. I wanted to quick quick brush my teeth and climb into bed, but lately I've been practicing a self-improvement technique: whenever I have a choice between something I should do and something I want to do, or a choice between any two things, really ... I've been forcing myself to do the harder of the two.

Walk by the speck on the floor or pick it up? Finish the chapter or play a game of Jewelbox? Floss or don't floss?

So, I'm flossing, just about finished ... when the temporary crown that looked like a tooth when it was in my mouth went flying into the air and then into the sink. Out of my mouth it looked like one of the pieces of popcorn left in the bottom of the bag. Plus, it's hollow.

Obviously, a sane person would have called the dentist first thing in the morning. A thousand live nerves were suddenly exposed. But, as long as I kept my mouth closed and didn't let any air flow across it or anything hot or cold or room temperature come near it, I thought I would be fine.

I finally broke down around noon and made the call, and I was overjoyed to be told that I could pop the thing back into my mouth, myself, if I wanted to try it. I much prefer do-it-yourself. So, I got a little dental stickum and after a certain amount of open-mouth drooling, I was able to put it back (sort of) where it belonged.

But the pain! Whoee, the pain. Shooting out in a fireworks of throbbing from the tooth up through the top of my head ... and my appointment for the permanent (boy, do I hope it's permanent ... surely, for nearly $700 it's permanent?) crown isn't until next Thursday, which is a full six days from now.

But, for now. For now I've got a fragile détente with my dentition; I'm being a very conscious and cautious chewer. If I had any real brains in the part of my head not taken up with teeth, I'd use this moment to get on with my diet, but ...

... no comment. No comment at all.