The Medical Profession

So what's with the medical profession there in the States? Some time ago a dentist shot a known and named lion in Africa or somewhere, and now there's a vet who shot a cat with an arrow and posted it on Facebook. She says feral, neighbors say pet. You know, a tomato, tomahto sort of thing. Now she's fighting to keep her veterinary license. 

I'd say she should lose her license just for proving she's not smart enough to be a vet. As dumb as we are all getting, soon the police will need only Facebook to investigate our crimes.

So far as I know at this time, the medical profession here in Japan is nowhere near that colorful. Or violent? Well, at least not as colorful.

Since I last wrote about the dentist I have been to a chiropractor, and then back to the dentist. I will see them both again today.

The chiropractor was nothing unusual except that he spent about an hour working me over. 

Back at the dentist, different doctor this time - perhaps luck of the draw on that, the clinic seems to have at least four. Pain had not subsided since last visit, and I figured they were going to do a root canal. But he determined that the tooth was actually cracked up into the root and extracted it. At least I didn't need a root canal. (I had actually suspected it was cracked the last time and mentioned it. But apparently it was difficult to find until I cleaved it further, breaking away the temporary seal.)

It will be interesting to see what they recommend for long-term repair. That clinic does do implants, but I do also have good teeth on both sides, so we'll see if they recommend a bridge instead. 

I didn't know the words for the various instruments he kept sending his assistant after. But I'm pretty sure if I could have remembered them long enough to have looked them up, they would be along the lines of number 58 monkey wrench, crow bar, 12 pound mallet, needle noise vice grips, and long-handled channel locks. 

The tooth may have broken, but that didn't mean it didn't have every intention of remaining in my head. The dentist didn't take "no" or "ouch" for an answer, however. Actually, he did ask after my welfare a number of times, and gave me an extra shot - which hurt about as much as the wrenching - when I wasn't quite numb enough up high.

So far, I'm impressed with the representatives of the medical profession I've met here. Silly me, I can't help but find some fun in the new experiences, monkey wrenches and all.