Metal head

I had a titanium screw inserted into my upper jaw yesterday. No, it wasn't just for fun. I lost a tooth there years ago, and after a bit of drama with a wisdom tooth impacting another molar I ended up earlier this year with one all by itself at the back of my jaw. I wasn't too concerned (even though I did look a bit like a Collingwood supporter) but my dentist sent me to a fancy specialist who took one look (and an x-ray, and a bit of poking around) and said I'd need a very expensive procedure. Well he would, wouldn't he? It's like whenever I've taken a car in to have something done, the car guy looks at the car, looks at me, shakes his head, sucks his breath in through his teeth and says I need to have the whole transmission replaced or something. How can I argue?

So I went in to get it done yesterday. After the anesthetic was in (which isn't fun) it wasn't too bad. I held my head still while he poked and sawed away at the bone, issuing very cryptic instructions to the nurse, then, when a second nurse joined in issuing instructions to both of them in an agreeably crisp manner. I was a bit worried when the second nurse joined in - I hoped it wasn't all becoming some sort of horrible dental emergency. But no, it was fine. It's very disconcerting how, even with the anesthetic, you can feel the grind of metal against bone. Dentists take me pretty seriously because I'm antibody-positive for HepC so they always put on spacesuits to go anywhere near me.

The thing with the two dental nurses reminded me of a dentist I used to go to in New York, when I first had problems with this particular tooth. She was recommended to me by a colleague, and had an office in what was then the Pan Am building. Yes, I'm showing my age. She had a devoted mostly-male clientele. She was a pneumatic blonde woman who used to wear a white dental coat with nothing underneath it. No, the nothing underneath is just my imagination, but the same thought did occur to all of her clients, or at least all the ones I checked with.