MY ODONTALGIA

For there was never yet philosopher
That could endure the toothache patiently...

Shakespeare

In order for me to be accepted into the Peace Corps, I had to get a complete dental check-up.
As it turned out, there was an excellent dentist in Kabul, Afghanistan.
I remember his huge, thick fingers, and wondered how he could be a dentist with such fingers.
But my doubts were proven wrong, because he was a very good dentist.
He remarked, "This fellow did some excellent work."
He was referring to the gold bridge that had come loose in the lower, left side of my mouth.
This bridge caused no pain.
The pain occurred when I had root canals done on my two bottom (center) teeth.

I actually enjoyed my experience while in the dentist chair.
I had beautiful, young female assistants taking care of me.
Calming music played.
Nitrous oxide poured into my brain.

My dentist put some type of antiseptic inside the two teeth that had been given root canals.
THEN THERE WAS PAIN!
I started taking some Percodan.
It helped.
But the pain was still intense.
A few days later I visited a friend who lived in a huge dome in the mountains.
Snow lay on the ground.
For dinner we had some delicious trout.
THEN THE PAIN GOT WORSE.
I had taken my last Percodan pill.
Now I was holding an ice pack on my pain.
BUT THE PAIN DIDN’T GO AWAY.
When I got back into town, I immediately got some more Percodan.
As with most things, the pain passed.
This toothache was the worst pain I had ever experienced, except for some ribs that I had bruised one time while doing construction work.
I can't imagine how people endured their toothaches before today's miraculous pain-killing drugs.