Student Doctor Beck

So gargling chocolate milk before bed finally caught up with me.

For roughly 2 weeks now I've had this pain in my #29. Remember the movie Legacy? And remember them carving granite where one dude held a spike while another hammered away? Yeah, my tooth was the granite.

I made it in to the dental school last Wednesday and as luck would have it, I found my way into Student Doctor Cameron Beck's lounge chair. His deft hands first filled in a missing filling. On Friday he administered a pulpectomy. On Tuesday he passed me over to an endodontist resident for a root canal. Except for the fact that the pain medication finished working before the resident did, the operation was a success.

My time in the dental school left me with a few impressions:

- The dental school needs new X-ray technology. I felt like Cameron was trying to stuff a shoe in my mouth. And I have a big mouth. That thing hurt.

- The Elders Quorum could hold meetings there. I'm sure much of the home teaching Paul Jackson reports to the Bishop was actually conducted at the dental school. In fact, I'm sure a significant portion of the time lessons are taught through those surgical masks.

- Having clinical experience is a good educational tool. At BYU Law, there are no clinics. That probably explains why I'm such a bad lawyer.

- I don't think I saw any nitrous oxide bottles. Reconsider, please.

- Wouldn't it be nice to essentially get to wear pajamas to work all day, every day?

- With all those anesthetics laying around, I'm surprised there aren't more practical jokes being played. I know that a tube of topical anesthetics would roughly equate to a week's worth of fun here at the office. "Wow counselor, these brownies are really good . . . and minty fresh! . . . Way . . . I thing uh can fee muh tongue."

- And finally, what's truly sad is that by the time I saw Cameron that Wednesday, sitting in his chair was the most relaxation I had in days. There's something wrong with my lifestyle if I go to the dentist for a little R&R.

I'm sure that I would have received just as skilled care from any of the other student doctors in our ward. They are all partaking in a great experience I envy. And, truth be told, I envy the prospect of working four days a week.