Hard Pizza Crust, A Broken Molar, And A Supernatural Moment

I guess it was about a week and a half ago that I broke off a big piece of one of my molars, on the bottom left hand side of my mouth. Hard pizza crust was the cause of the painful break. Today, I went to the dentist to have the tooth reconstructed.

Okay, it’s time for plain talk and confession. I’m deadly afraid to go to the dentist. Especially when major, major dental work needs to be done…..and especially when the major dental work has to be done on me!

This burnt, hard piece of pizza crust really did a number on my molar. The bottom line was that there wasn’t much of the tooth left at all. I thought for sure that it was beyond saving. But my dentist is a super hero and he managed to save the tooth and rebuild it.

At one point, the good doctor told me that he had to insert a pin into my tooth and then into my mandible bone, to hold the little remains of my tooth that was left in place. Wow! Even with the Novocain, it was a bit painful.

Here’s where some of you are going to think that I’ve been out in the hot Florida sun too long. But, that’s okay, really and truly. We can have disagreements on spiritual matters, but still agree that The Monkees were the coolest rock band of all time!

At any rate, as the doctor and the dental assistant were working to screw in this pin into the remains of my broken molar, I was looking up at the ceiling. I have to admit there was a point where it was pretty painful. For some reason, as I was enduring this pain, I looked down to my feet as I laid back in the dentist’s chair. There, I saw a ghostly form of my father standing beside the dentist, on my left hand side.

My dad touched my left knee, smiled and winked at me. It was as if he was saying, “Richard, in a few more moments the pain will be gone.” And it was. It’s funny, as soon as the dentist said to his dental assistant, “that’s it, we got it,” Dad vanished.

At that point, my dentist told me that I could sit up for a minute and catch my breath. As I sat up, my dentist told me that he had a tough time anchoring the remains of my tooth with the small screw. He told me that he was having a rough time with the screw and then it suddenly just took and fell into place. Somehow, I know my dad had a role in that.

Life is funny. All is not how we see it to be. I’m not trying to be an evangelist pounding the pulpit, but all I’m saying is that unusual things happen. Stuff that is beyond reasonable and rational explanation. And, when all is said and done, I think it’s best to just groove on it and be cool!

Peace, love and harmony, Richard