the agony of de teeth

It was just a routine dentist visit-nothing to be nervous about. I didn't have any toothache, and had been using Listerine twice a day and brushing even more often than that. My last check-up 6 months ago was perfect and I was following the same routine. I should be out of here in 20 minutes (I thought) and back on my way to Bizarro World for another fun day of work.

The hygenist probed around my gums for about an hour, looking concerned. Then she handed me a brochure about gum disease and said I needed a procedure called "root planing and scaling". Kind of like Roto-Rooter for under my gums. We'll give you Novocaine for the whole side of your mouth, she said. Also, we'll have to do the same thing on the other side at another appointment. We have an appointment available tomorrow!

This is not what I had planned. The story continues tomorrow....