I was privileged to open my week with another trip to the dentist's chair for a routine workup, a checkout, and my bi-yearly (I think that's right - twice every year) cleaning which had taken a back seat to my last root canal. Much of the morning was taken up with bitewing x-rays and many long minutes spent under a water spike, which uses a thin stream of water moving under very high pressure to remove buildup and tartar from one's teeth in all those places that toothbrushes never quite seem to hit on a daily basis. While it wasn't uncomfortable …