By Jerry Riley

For some time one of my teeth seemed to sometimes hurt when I had a cold drink. Soon I could feel it wiggle and it sometimes caused pain while I was chewing. Experience told me it was going to have to come out, yes, what a revoltin’ development this is! I don’t drive well in Peoria and don’t like having to rely on people for transportation. I began asking around and found a dentist, Michael Meier, D.M.D., in Roanoke, who does extractions, when necessary. If Walmart is the West end of my driving range, I figured Roanoke would be in range.
The Dentist was on vacation, so aspirin and ice got me through and I made an appointment. I left Eureka early and told a few people, you know, just in case. My appointment was at 3:00, but I did get to the dentist at TOOTH-HURTY.
The Doctor seemed very knowledgeable and could convey the oral problems, and my options, in small words. He numbed me up (no comments needed) and yanked the tooth. I told him it sounded like it should have hurt. I felt so much better!
I like this part best. I agreed to X-rays to see if there was anything else that needed attention. There is, but nothing as bad as the infected tooth.
You know the holder that they put in your mouth to hold the X-ray film? They had trouble getting the rod and ring into my mouth and commented that I had a small mouth! It’s official! Just think of all the people I know that were wrong!
The next day his office called, just checking if I was having any problems–that is problems related to the extraction. I made another appointment and will be able to approach that one with much less trepidation.

Jerry Riley is an occasional commentator for the News Bulletin. He is a retired telecommunications supervisor.