Last night just after the heavy rain stopped, I carried our terrier outside into our dark yard so she could do her business. Without thinking about where I was going, I tripped over our heavy iron chaise lounge and did a faceplant right into the iron armrest. Not only did I have a cut under my chin, but also one inside my upper lip. Worst of all, when I came back inside I discovered I had severely chipped one of my front tooth. Needless to say, I was a bit distressed.

This morning, I called our dental office and they figured out a way to get me in. Once there, my young but very competent dentist, Dr, Nicholas Young, gave my tooth a look-see and said, “Let’s go with a conservative approach. I’ll put a filling on your tooth and as long as you don’t bite into anything too hard, you’ll be good to go. Otherwise, we are looking at a veneer.”

The cost was surprisingly affordable.

“Absolutely,” I said, and an hour and a half later I emerged with my front tooth fully intact. My dentist also polished my other front teeth so it could be argued I looked better than before my unfortunate accident.

It was like magic.

I am grateful to live in a time when dentistry and medicine have come so far. Not that long ago, I’d be either walking around with a chipped front tooth or have a gaping hole in my mouth where that tooth once had been. I’m glad that’s not the case today.

As the old song goes, “All I want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth.” Ain’t that the truth!

I’ll be biting very carefully from now but that’s a small price to pay to restore my smile.

Thanks, Dr. Young!