. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P A R O L E . C A L L

Several of my students will be out tomorrow getting their teeth pulled. These extractions will be done for free by university dental students.  Needless to say many of my students have destroyed their gums by smoking crack or meth. Recovery isn’t just about avoiding old habits, it’s about confronting and working on the devastation caused by old habits.

I had my first dental scaling last Sunday and was reminded of trepanning and other archaic medical practices. I asked the hygienist if the scraping was harmful to the teeth. “Oh no,” she said, “it’s like removing the barnacles from the bottom of a boat.”

So now my mouth is seaworthy.