Everyone trusted Dr. Yueh; his Suk school training forbid the taking of human life. But when he betrayed the Atreides, he offered Duke Leto an opportunity to avenge himself on the Baron Harkonnen.
"Be quiet, please, my poor Duke. You haven't much time.
That peg tooth I put in your mouth after the tumble at Narcal--that tooth must be replaced, in a moment, I'll render you unconscious and replace that tooth." He opened his hand, stared at something in it. "An exact duplicate, its core shaped most exquisitely like a nerve. It'll escape the usual detectors, even a fast scanning. But if you bite down hard on it, the cover crushes. Then, when you expel your breath sharply, you fill the air around you with a poison gas..."
Cool remoteness spread upward from Leto's jaw, across his cheeks. The shadowy, hall narrowed to a pinpoint with Yueh's purple lips centered in it.
"Remember the tooth!" Yueh hissed. "The tooth!"
To bring the occasional Paul participant to speed, an upper-rear tooth cracked w/ a capital 'C'. Paul dutifully ignored it and it crumbled to the gumline. Yes, yes - Bad Paul. The concern was finding a gifted dentist, unlike the previous several. Doc Mollow was recommended by an only recently cavitied Lili and I have to say, he's amazing. Our time together is spent talking books, giving and taking titles to look up and him understanding my in-chair mumbles.
Anyway, yesterday was my tooth extraction and it went very well. I was understandably uncomfortable once the shots wore off but, it wasn't anything threesomes of 600mg ibuprofen, beer and pudding couldn't solve! I'd hoped that solid food would be in the works but, I'm not even sure that'll come to pass today. At most, I'm talking chinese take-out noodles.
Today, I'm at work and tittering over Dune comparisons. I'm dying to speed to the local Starbucks for coffee but, I'm not sure how sensitive I am yet. *sigh* Perhaps I'll buy a cup and just let it come to room temperature. Granted, it'll take an hour but, it's certainly better than nothing.
What should help is the little "flipper" appliance I'm now sporting. Think - single tooth denture. The grand plan is to go back for a dental implant in the Fall. Until then, others are allowed a complete smile and I'm spared more drilling. I'm having to get used to how it sits in my mouth. It has this plastic molding that fits around my gums and adjacent teeth but, it's kinda obnoxious. It feels like jamming chewing gum around my teeth and letting it sit there. Trying to speak w/ it is worse as it brings the want to lisp. :-( We'll have to see if Socratic marble exercises actually work.
Labels: amusements, dune, teeth