I got one of those forwarded … forwarded … forwarded emails the other day that actually has some interesting quotes in it. The list was titled “Literary Taunts … A Graceful Taunt Is Worth A Thousand Insults”. Two that I found particularly delicious were:

“He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.” (William Faulkner about Ernest Hemingway)

To which Hemingway replied:

“Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?”

Today most people just use profanity rather than really thinking about what could be said that would put new light on the subject. It’s so easy to just be foul-mouthed, I guess.

I’ve been having problems with a tooth (#31) in my lower right jaw. I went in to see the dentist who determined that a cavity needed to be filled. The only problem was, this tooth was the back anchor of a bridge spanning a gap from a tooth that was taken out some thirty-six years ago. Getting to the cavity was going to be tricky.

The difficult part turned out to be something different than getting to the cavity. The dentist couldn’t get the tooth numb! In most people’s mouth, the nerve comes down the back of the jaw and enters a channel under the jaw. In my case, it must follow a different route because lots of anesthetic later, almost everything is numb except my teeth. Too much anesthetic makes me sick, raises my blood pressure, and gives me shaky hands. It took the dentist two tries on two different days to finally get the tooth numb enough to try to fill the cavity. When he was done, he told me he had gotten quite close to the nerve and if the tooth gave me any more problems, it would need a root canal.

That is indeed what happened. The tooth didn’t get better, but got worse and I had to begin taking ibuprofen kind of like candy. The next trip to the dentist had a familiar outcome … the tongue got numb. The lip got numb. The cheek got numb. The side of my nose got numb. But the tooth did not get numb. So my dentist referred me to a specialist to do the job.

The Sutton family practically owns the dentistry business in Pocatello. I think every son in that family is some kind of a dentist. The family who’s yard abuts ours on the west is a Sutton and he is in dental practice with his father. His brother was the Endodontist to whom I was referred to have the root canal done.

He had the same problem … the tooth wouldn’t get numb. He told me I had a couple of choices. He could bring an anesthesiologist in at some future date and put me completely to sleep or, because the tooth was somewhat numb, he could open it up down to the nerve and put the anesthetic directly on the nerve. When he actually got to the nerve, I would feel it in some dramatic fashion. Further, when he then put the anesthetic on the nerve, for a second or so I would definitely feel it. I told him that I’d take the second option. I wanted this done!

It proceeded as he told me it would. He got to the nerve, scraped me off the ceiling (symbolically, of course), put the anesthetic on the tooth, put me back in the chair a second time, and from then on all went smoothly with no more injections and no more pain. The job got finished.

While all of this was going on I noticed something else interesting. The endodontist and his assistant worked together very smoothly. As he needed each instrument, she had it ready. He didn’t have to ask. He didn’t have to remind her about anything. She was right in step with him the entire way. When I remarked on that, she said they have been working together for seven years and that’s why things went so smoothly and quickly.

There are many, many companies that haven’t learned this lesson. Working together as a team over a longer period of time makes a very real difference. In the case of my root canal, my guess is that their teamwork allows them to see as many as 25% more patients in a year than other practices. Once he had my tooth ready to be worked on, we were done in less than a half-hour. In his business, time is money and a good team makes much more money that it costs.

So what’s next in my mouth? I’m back to my regular dentist on April 29th for him to put the permanent filling in for the root canal. Then he has to inspect the bridge to make sure it doesn’t have to be replaced after the endodontist drilled through the crown. I expect several more visits this year. It’s a never ending saga, I’m afraid.