Adventures in Modern Dentistry...

It was time. I hadn't been to the dentist in a while (since I lived in Daejeon, and had a wisdom tooth removed), and figured it was time for a check-up. One of my co-workers recommended a place downtown. So, on a lovely Thursday afternoon, I headed off to see the dentist. I had memories of my dentist in Canada, with Escher's* prints on the ceiling for a little visual stimulation during your visit. The one at the top of this post is the one I remember most. My dentist today was a little more hi-tech. Mounted on the front of each chair assembly, there was a flatscreen TV with satellite. I was even given control of the remote! However, I only caught about 3 minutes of TV before a green cloth with a hole cut out for my mouth was placed over my face. Another nice thing about this particular dentist was the anaesthetic rinse I got to swoosh and gargle with first, so the cleaning wouldn't be so uncomfortable. It was awesome. My tongue was all numb.

After all was said and done, the dentist said I had nice, strong, healthy teeth. Hooray!! I don't have to go back for another 6 months! However, he has a fascinating book called, if I remember correctly, The Illustrated History of Dentistry. I only got to the 1st page (the downside of extreeeeeeeemly minimal wait times in Korean medical clinics), so I actually wouldn't mind popping in again just to sit in the waiting area and thumb through the book. There was a full-color photo of ancient Incan teeth with turquoise inlays - way cooler than body piercing. Speaking of which, I got a new belly-ring today. I'm off to boil it and try it on.

(ooooh, just noticed my paragraph structure above. I'd flunk any student in my writing class that started a paragraph talking about teeth, spent most of the paragraph discussing a book, and then closing the whole thing off with a belly button. Terrible form.)

* I couldn't remember Escher's name, so I just googled "famous drawings", and found the right site on my 2nd try. Amazing thing, this internet.