You know the drill!

      I went to the dentist yesterday.
      It was just a routine visit. The kind you
have every six months or so.
      That's a lot of visits over a lot of years.
      It's covered a few dentists too.
      Different years, different dentists, and
yet the scene is always the same.
       You recline in a very comfortable
chair. The dentist's assistant comes in and
begins the process of cleaning your teeth
by inserting a narrow sharp metal pick
into your mouth which is scrapped
against each tooth with an accompanying
noise much like the sound of fingers
scrapping a blackboard.
      A second device provides a constant
flow of water on the teeth. That's is
alternated with a vacuum cleaner-like
hose which evacuates the water.
      Now here's where "Dentistry 101"
comes into play.
      While those devices are invading
your head the assistant, or the dentist
himself, asks you a series of questions.
Unfortunately none of them ever seem
to lend themselves to "yes" or "no"
answers!
       I have always found it difficult to
express my thoughts about subjects
like Global warming or the attractions
of various vacation destinations when
my tongue is pinned beneath a sharp
medal pick!
      If that weren't bad enough I just
watched a rerun of "Marathon Man"
on TV last night and suffered along
with Dustin Hoffman's character as
the German dentist drilled into
perfectly healthy teeth to get him to
tell what he knew about a stash of
diamonds. In view of my appointment
maybe I should have picked another
movie!
     Hope you're brushing at least twice
a day and that all your NEWS is good!