A prattling coworker said, Oh, you must see Dr. K in Dupont. The kindest, gentlest man, Nepalese and so handsome— It’s true he was kind. He’d rubbed my shoulder gently as I heaved from sheer shock. Twelve cavities. Two large enough that he would try to fill them, but they would need root canals down the line. What’s a root canal? I had asked, blinking. Trying to calculate copay and cost for twelve fillings. He’d said I had gum disease advanced enough that I’d already suffered permanent bone loss. See how loose this one is, he noted, rattling an incisor.
