dentist

My neighbor and I (call him Nabes) shop a couple of times a month in the Bulk Store – stuff in bins. But they also have some interesting gourmet items, plus a shelf of hard-to-find candy. They have Clark Bars and Chunkys. So I bought a 100,000 Bar the other day. Alas, the caramel had its way with one of my three-tooth bridges.

I went to the dentist today, which is a very different experience than I’m used to. For one thing, it’s a clinic, so there’s no “my dentist.” (That’s pretty much been the case with every specialist I’ve seen here except my primary.) They don’t use film for the x-rays any more, and the tech doesn’t have to go a block away behind a seven layer metal door. I still had to wear the lead vest, but he stood right next to me.

I’ve also discovered that a cup and little tap and spit sink are antique.

The dentist I saw in Brooklyn, before I moved here five years ago, had a very minimal office. The old-school x-ray set-up, and a spit sink. He also had no receptionist and no computer. He’d answer a phone call while I was in the chair and hondle with some guy over the price of gloves. He was Orthodox, as were a lot of his patients, and he kept prices low. The bridges cost me $1,200 each.

Dr. Kadaa was very fond of the ex and me. The first time I saw Kadaa, my ex had to come with me and hold my hand. I have a “low threshold of pain” in my mouth, and my longtime dentist Steve Markow used to see. (When I was a kid, and Brooklyn Heights was still something of a village, everyone went to Dr. Markow. Steve was in business with his father, so you’d have to ask if someone saw old Dr. Markow or young Dr. Markow. He was cool because he had a mustache and played WNEW-FM on the radio in his office.

Anyway, Dr. Kadaa became very fond of us. He was a family guy, which is basically the case with observant people. Sometimes I’d go in and he’d be on the phone with his son in Israel, demanding to know where he was going for Shabbat. (The one thing I didn’t know I’d miss when I moved to Detroit are Jews. There are basically none here. There are many in ritzy suburbs outside the city, but Detroit is only 2% Jewish. As a lifelong New Yorker, it’s really weird not having Jews around.

Dr. Kadaa was heartbroken when the ex and I broke up. He tried his hand at a little counseling. After the divorce, I got my bridges, one of which was to correct my pointy vampire teeth, third teeth in. I love that one a lot; got to smile big again.

I heard from the ex that Dr. Kadaa’s marriage broke up. That’s a shame and not very usual. I imagine that Orthodox men are pretty helpless without a wife, but the community will find someone. If you believe, it can be a nice life filled with supportive people; but you have to swallow some pretty sexist shit to be an observant Jew.