davewyman's posterous

Implements of Torture

This morning I headed over to my dentist to have him work on my tooth that lost its gold crown about two weeks ago, when I was conducting the first of two photography tours of the Southwest. I'm not sure what possessed me to chomp onto a proffered piece of salt water taffy. That sticky confection pulled my gold filling right off the tooth on which it had sat solidly for many years.

Losing the crown, though, was neither painful nor depressing. That gold crown was visible every time I opened my mouth (and anyone who knows me knows how much I like to talk); I am going to prefer the natural look of the new crown I've ordered up.

Meanwhile, after an injection of a painkiller, my dentist and his aides spent about 45 minutes grinding and filing the tooth and suctioning out saliva and blood, in order to place a temporary crown that will be replaced with a permanent version in a few weeks. During that process, I pulled out my iPhone and made a few photographs.