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I Cannot Tell A Lie


If I said, "I love going to the dentist," I'd be lying. I dread it. I'd rather be fishing. Actually, I'd rather be doing practically anything but being at the dentist. As I sit here typing with a nice hot pack on my jaw joint I'm thinking there has to be a better option. You would think with all of the focus on technology that the practice of dentistry would make astonishing leap forwards - no offense to dentists intended. Yes, dentistry has improved when it comes to immediacy of x-rays and their presentation on the computer screen along with numerous other improvements. However, after my recent crown, the pain didn't go away. (Both the upper and lower molar in this situation). I was told only the bottom tooth was cracked and that the sensitivity in the upper tooth would calm down now that I had the new crown. Plus, the x-ray didn't show anything wrong with the upper tooth.

I waited a month and then returned. The upper tooth didn't 'settle down'. Upon inspection, I was told I had a crack and a cavity in the upper tooth. So much for modern technology. So, of course, I had to go back for a potential preparation for a crown to replace the upper tooth and waited another month. Meanwhile I'd added Origel to my daily regimen. (Origel for numbing teeth).

And yes, you guessed it. I didn't have a cracked tooth, just a cavity.

You're probably wondering how does my tooth story relate to writing. If we think about the technology available for writers. We have spell checkers, grammar checkers that tell us if we're writing passively, if we have a dangling participle (cringe worthy), plus numerous other items to 'improve' our writing. They are useful tools but they're only as good as the person using them. If we rely on a spell checker, we might not catch the homonyms that are spelled correctly but have an entirely different meaning. There, their, they're or your and you're being great examples.

We cannot rely on technology to 'improve' our writing. Ultimately, we have to slog our way through the proofreading process, often several times, to ensure we haven't overlooked something. Unlike going to the dentist, we have complete control over our work. We just need to rely on and practice our craft.

In the end, just like a visit to our 'beloved' dentists, we end up with a, hopefully, perfect result.

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