Snaggle Tooth

Sometime, in the early 1980s, I realized that I had a bad cavity in one of my teeth. To be accurate, one of my upper molars. So I found a dentist and got it filled. A couple of years later, at the Marigold Bowling Alley, I bought a package of Chuckles candy. Chuckles is a kind of early version of Gummi with a sugar coating. I used to love them. Well, that evening one of those tasty Chuckles sucked that filling right out of my upper molar. It took me over a year before I found the courage to return to the dentist (I'm a big baby that way), but I eventually did go and got the tooth re-filled. Later, around the mid 1990s, I was in a bar sucking down a vodka and soda when I crunched on some ice. (It's a disgusting habit that I have, chewing the ice.) I lost the filling again. This time I had a dentist right around the corner and I didn't waste any more than a year before I went over there and had him fix it. Lost the filling one more time while eating dinner a few years later. By this time I had named the tooth Snaggle. I told the dentist that I wanted that tooth filled and I didn't want to go through the drilling, and filling ever again. He assured me that the new epoxy fillings never fell out. About four months ago the filling that was guaranteed to never fall out, fell out. I have been ignoring old Snaggle Tooth since then, hoping it would maybe disappear. Snaggle must have decided that I needed some reminding that it was there, because last night Snaggle attacked my cheek from the inside. I was eating a hamburger when the most godawful pain shot through my face. I screamed, which made Mark jump. I had bitten my cheek. I tried to continue eating but I immediately bit my cheek again, and then again. Three times I bit into my own flesh. I took a napkin and dabbed my mouth, it came back out bloody. My mouth was full of blood and Mark is very squeamish when it comes to blood. Especially if he's eating. So at least I had that bit of entertainment. Once again I have to find a dentist to fix this tooth. Until then I am bathing it in disinfectant. Vodka is a disinfectant, isn't it?