[Magdalen] root canal

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

I broke a tooth, and eventually came in for the root canal. The dentist was
very nice. I said, more or less jokingly, that I would like some music
while he did his work. He said he regretted he did not have anything like
that, ending with, "Let me see what I can do." He brought in a radio and
they tuned it to a nice NPR station; it was either WQXR or WMHT
http://www.wmht.org/radio/classical/listen-live/wmhtfm-online-player/
However, after a time, he stopped, having buttoned me up, and said that he
regretted he could not make out my roots, and did not wish to risk damaging
my teeth, so sent me to get a professional job from an endodontist.
Yesterday, I went in for the root canal.  It was a very nice experience,
aside from the root canal itself. They gave me a list of CDs to choose
from, and I settled for Bach. It gave me something to listen to other than
the crushing and grinding, and the DDS and her tech talking about what they
were going to do over the weekend.
One of the best looking dentists I've ever seen -- not that I saw a lot.
She gave me several shots. It paid off, since I had no real pain.
They gave me some advil and recommended I keep taking it whether or not I
felt I needed to.
I have virtually no pain, so I assume my assessment of the tooth being dead
already long since was probably true.
I learned that they stick a small piece of cotton in when they are working,
so there is no question how far the previous dentist was.
I am not to chew on that side of my mouth (the absolutely worst part, since
the other side of my mouth has less molars), but have no pain at all.
Great work, folks!
James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy