Grateful Teeth

While on the inclined chair at the dentist with plastic wrapping at the head and feet, I couldn't help but feel grateful to be there with the pleasant assistant flossing my teeth. I was fortunate to have had braces as a child (the ugly metal ones without any choice of colors joined onto the teeth with distasteful cement). I certainly did not have dental cleaning appointments every 6 months due to family finances, and it shows.

Then, all I could think about is what if I wasn't afforded the dental care that my parents gave me. How the heck would the eight teeth that have been extracted fit in my small mouth?

As I was just about complete my thought, I hear another dental assistant giving a child laughing gas to pull a tooth. I couldn't help but think how spoiled children are now a days. In that very instant, I felt like an old man that wanted to say "back in my day".