Ten days ago, in a dentist’s chair not too far away…
I received confirmation my bottom left wisdom tooth was badly infected. As an aside, I don’t believe anyone has ever really heard of a dental abscess being a good thing; however, that is beside the point. The other part of the diagnosis was that the tooth could not be saved. Two days later I was back in the dentist’s chair. If I recall correctly, after seven needles of local anaesthesia she extracted the source of my discomfort. For those who remember Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, for a time I became Mush Mouth.
I have now begun to think my intelligence has fallen by approximately one-quarter following the loss of one wisdom tooth. You see, I went into a public toilet where I noticed a sign advising me to wash my hands when I was done. This was then followed by another sign above the sink that featured pictograms of how one should, in fact, wash their hands. I do remember there was a time when I would have considered such advisories as insulting, part of the creeping nanny state here in Britain. This time I simply let it go as a helpful reminder.
I was left wondering if, as a consequence of having a wisdom tooth removed, have I really become so feeble?