Acrylic Burr

Never in a million years did I think that I'd be serving up endodentric and operative trays, fixed and acrylic burrs, hemodent and dental dams. The list of professions I've considered besides being a filmmaker: law, teacher or firefighter. Not dental supply assistant.

But, I'm kind of loving it. The PhD students are like little babies ... maybe there is something to education where we believe that we must infantalize people in order to educate them. Because these docs throw fits like toddlers. The other day, I threw a block of burrs at a student's face in front of a professor. The professor later apologized to me for the student's rude behavior.

I can't blame them for their fits: there are no instruments when they need to work on patients. They're paying a bungload to NYU to not have instruments.

So, they yell at me ... and I say, "I don't know what to tell you. Maybe you'll have instruments today; maybe not." And they look at me like they want to kill me.

It's true: we abuse each other. It took the students a month to awake from a stupor and ask my name. But, then, I don't know their names. Except for the one to whom I snapped, "That is very rude!" He apologized profusly and I developed a minor crush. It's like kicking the dog, and when the dog comes to lick your hand, you love the dog even more. Or loving someone even though they are an asshole, because being an asshole makes someone human.

We're all bound together around the notion that every person should have perfect teeth. Or perhaps the notion that everyone's teeth have decay.