Modern Dentistry, or Like a Keurig for Teeth

Last night I bit into a cupcake. It was two days old, but still soft, sweet, and delicious. As I was about to have my last tasty swallow - What is that, a bone?

It was a piece of tooth. Specifically MY tooth.

Fuck.

I called the dentist first thing this morning to see if I could get in.

"Come in at noon," they said.

Cool.

Noon rolled around and I rode over to the dentist, the cold air sending tiny shocks into my gum line each time I drew a breath. I locked up my bike, parked myself in the dentist chair, and opened my mouth.

"Looks like you had a fracture," she said. "It wouldn't have necessarily showed up on the xray from before."

"We can put in a crown today, though," she continued. "You want a crown today?"

"Sure. You mean like a temporary crown, right?"

"No, we can make it right here."

"Like a 3D printer?"

"Yes, sort of. It's a cad cam, a milling machine. We take some pictures, model it...

...and then take this porcelain cube and put it in the machine."

"Cool."

The machine made a bunch of whirrs and adjustments, sort of like a printer starting up. And then some water jets turned on and my tooth started to take shape.



Seven and a half minutes later it was done. I held it in my hand.

I returned to my chair and sat back with the light shining in my eyes, a drill in my mouth, and pondered what I had just seen.

"Iss srta ike a kurrrik ut fur teef."

She pulled the drill out. "What?"

"It's sort of like a Keurig, but for teeth."

"Um, yes."

She continued to drill and polish everything down. At one point she used a laser - the same kind they use for dog arthritis. I was totally in the future.

"You should take Advil today and tomorrow," she said, "but you're good to go."

"Cool, thanks."

The entire procedure took about an hour and a half. There were needles and drills and cheek pulling, but it truly wasn't very painful...

Except for the end.

;-)

PS. Special shout out to Smiles By Design! Woot!