We’ve all experienced coincidences, and here’s one for the books.
A few nights ago I was in my den — I don’t like the term man cave — and plopped a chunk of sugarless gum into my mouth. A few chews later I noticed something hard in the wad of gum. It was a small piece of tooth.
I headed for the bathroom to assess the damage in the mirror. At the same time wife Beverly was coming down the hall from our living room.
“What’s up,” I asked. “Just broke a tooth,” she replied.
In a matter of a minute, we both had suffered the same mishap.
A day or two later I dropped by Ryan Coffield’s office to see what could be done. I was in no hurry. I had no pain and the break was not inconvenient.
Dr. Coffield studied an X-ray and then looked over the tooth in question.
A tough one, he said.
I probably have enough fillings to make a one-ounce silver round, and the tooth needing attention had little of the original left. The good part, Doc said, was the filling — about all that was visible — was anchored into the tooth’s root with a couple of screws. We decided to leave it be after some filing to smooth ragged edges.
My teeth are a mess for two reasons, both of historical origins.
When I was growing up and my teeth needed attention, the Humboldt dentist, Dr. John Parkhurst, was in my mind something of a mad scientist. I was certain any visit would come with pain, excruciating pain, pain like you never felt before. I equated his office to a medieval torture chamber.
I was well into adulthood before my attitude toward dentists changed.
The second reason a survey of my mouth caused Dr. Coffield such dismay was my revelation that Humboldt water has never been fluoridated. An effort a few years to bring my hometown out of the dark ages failed at the polls.
Fluoride helps prevent tooth decay by making the tooth more resistant to acid attacks from plaque bacteria and sugars; it also reverses early decay, making it an elixir for young people.
Prior to the referendum opponents railed against scientific evidence and claimed too much fluoride could cause problems. Of course it could; too much of many things — sweets for example — can cause problems. However, fluoride is carefully apportioned when introduced into drinking water, as are all chemicals that make tap water safe for consumption.
