Sweet Tooth

NOTE to Reader. My apologies for last Thursday’s missed entry. A medical matter (referenced below) factored in. Also, a few of my posts for the moment are offering up a bit of  nonfiction levity, a momentary diversion of sorts. Thanks. Cheers!

You know something is amiss when you spy your Chiweenie puppy savoring your new false denture.

We had only acquired little Tamu (a name hijacked from the Swahili word for ‘sweet’) in February.

Ann and I could not have envisioned the odd string of happenings leading up to my terse command in the moment (uttered with a slight lisp), “Tamu, Give me that tooth!”

It started a couple days leading up to my wife’s surgical procedure last week – a joint replacement. Sparing my readers any unnecessary detail, it’s enough to say my standing as spouse to a ‘hip’ lady is affirmed. Ann’s post-op recovery is, thankfully, progressing well.

Meanwhile.

I had been earlier scheduled to offer up a public address for an event – a meaningful occasion before a modest-size gathering of good folks. Then came the surprise just a handful of days out.

A single tooth – lower incisor stationed right at the front of the mouth – quickly gave way during an evening meal. This tooth of mine had been jiggling about for several days, and now there it was, poised unceremoniously atop my dining fork.  What to do?

Google has a way of yielding up surprising finds. Still, a do-it-yourself tooth-building kit? Surely not. . .

I Googled.

When the Amazon delivery fellow showed up 18 hours later bearing a TempTooth (i.e. ‘temporary tooth’) parcel, I stepped into self-assigned Orthodontist mode.

While short on sophistication, the hastened experiment – to my wonderment – redeemed the moment. A gathered, attentive audience the following day was spared enduring forty minutes of puzzled distraction (What’s with the guy’s snaggletooth, is he short a dentist?)

Enter Tamu.

©2024 Jerry Lout