I passed by a pumpkin in an entryway which, instead of the usual variations on a Jack o' Lantern face, had a perfectly rendered kanji. I wondered what the translation would be and if Halloween is celebrated in Japan in some fashion not having anything to do with All Souls. I was on the walking route to my new dentist. My childhood experiences with dentists have been thrown into the Pit of Non-Recollection. The first memory I have isn't until high school when braces were part of what was known as a coming of age. This involved several extractions. I prefer teeth pulled to teeth drilled and agree with a friend who compared drilling to the sound of jets landing on the Hong Kong runway. My best times were at the UNC Dental School in the '90s where I gave would-be dentists and technicians a lot of practice. Last week I went for an initial cleaning to a dentist in New York. I feared the worst because I hadn't been checked since 2003. "Seven years? I have patients who average every fifteen years." He seemed overjoyed at the condition of my teeth and enquired about where I had various procedures done. He praised no end the excellent UNC Dental School work and asked so many questions about Chapel Hill I suspected he might want to retire there. For example: "That's university town, isn't it? Beautiful campus? Did you go to basketball games? How about football games? Did you take a bus to get there?" Fortunately all these questions could be answered with a slight nod of the head. It's not considered polite to talk with a mouth full of toothpaste. He told me the history of my teeth such as, "Root canal through a crown, braces as a teen" but missed on one point. He said it didn't look as though I was big on sugar. That brought a laugh. It made me nostalgic thinking of rationing Milky Way bars with Marcia, and Marge Hamilton's deluxe Hershey brownies. As I was leaving, he mentioned almonds. I told him that I love nuts, too. He asked, "Any particular kind?" I said, "Yes. The ice cream topper kind!"
~~~~~~~~
...may the blessings of good news checkups be yours...
Smiles courtesy of St. Labre Indian School
You made going to the dentist a delightful experience as I read your blog today. I remember you to have the biggest brightest smile with the most beautiful teeth I've ever seen..must be in the genes!
ReplyDelete...from a Famous Roanoker, Diansica:
ReplyDeleteAll I know is that I sure miss that smile that is running around Manhattan these days. The last time that I saw it, we were waving goodbye at your charming home in South Roanoke. You were off to San Francisco to begin a new life. If only we had known then that Roanoke was about to invest in free red trolley car service from your neighborhood to Downtown. Every time that I see one, I think of the California Dreamer!!!!!! When are you going to blog about the lovely twist that landed you in the Big Apple? Your fans are waiting!