The Annoyance of Teeth

All in all, it could have been worse -- this could have happened a few days earlier in the middle of BayCon. But there it is, Tuesday evening, and as I'm eating dinner I notice that I get a sharp pain any time something contacts my right lower rear molar. Like, a SHARP pain. Given the tooth's history, I figure we're either dealing with the crown coming loose or something more dire. I pop off a message to my dentist that I'll be calling to try to get an urgent appointment the next day.

In the morning, in addition to the pain at contact/pressure, I'm getting a constant throb in time with my pulse, plus extended pain and a swollen lymph node along the jaw. OK, we're definitely talking something more dire. I got an appointment for just after lunch, they took xrays, but the dentist basically said, "I could diagnose this from your description alone. We're calling around for an endodontist who can take you this afternoon."

SURPRISE ROOT CANAL!!!

All in all, taken care of very efficiently with little fuss. (I will spare you the description of what emerged from the tooth as soon as they drilled through to the root.) I'm on antibiotics and it's taking a while for the pain to subside, though at this point it's mostly the aftereffects of the procedure rather than the residual infection.

I had an interesting side-conversation with the endodontist. They used an interesting 3-D imaging device that I'd never encountered before and I asked about what sort of imaging technique it used (turned out to be ordinary xray-type). In the course of the discussion I commented, that I assumed you couldn't use MRI type imaging for dental work because of the metal interference. He says, well but that's only a problem with iron and not with the metals used in dentistry. But, says I, what about stainless steel posts for implants and the like?

And he says, "Stainless steel doesn't have any iron in it."

"I beg your pardon?" I say. "Stainless steel is an alloy of iron, carbon, and other components."

"No," he says. "Stainless steel doesn't have any iron in it."

And at that point I dropped the subject, hoping that his abysmal understanding of molecular structure didn't suggest similar defects in his understanding of endodonty.

I have now researched the question of MRI and stainless steel dental implants and found articles that confirm that it can, indeed, be an issue. It's nice to be confirmed that my compost-heap memory came up with a reasonably accurate anecdote as usual. But really: "steel doesn't contain iron"?????

# # #

Yesterday's tea (which I didn't write up at the time because pain makes me grumpy) was Stash Double Spice Chai (in bags). Black tea, cinnamon, ginger, clove, allspice, cardamom. Some flavors in the form of oil rather than ground spice. Brewed at 212F for 5 min after which I tucked the tea bag up under the lip of the lid since I hadn't brought a dish to put it on. I sweetened it, though sometimes I try it without and sometimes I also add milk to the chai-type teas.

This currently represents my favorite chai-type tea, both in terms of the spice mixture and the intensity. The unbrewed tea has a strong enough aroma you could use it as a sachet among your clothing. Hmmm... The clove is prominant but not overwhelming and mostly it's an integrated blend of flavors.

When brewed, the aroma is mildly spicy but as a blend, without an overwhelming specific note. Taste is clearly spicy and, again, an integrated blend of flavors. I did one bag in my usual pot (ca. 24oz volume), but when I use the larger pot I'll put two in and the flavor is stronger. The flavor gets your attention and this is a consideration if I'm pairing it with a snack. I'd be less likely to drink this to accompany a meal -- I'd want to be paying attention to the flavor. Comparing it to other chai-type teas I have in stock, it reinforces that I dislike the black pepper presence in the Trope Teas blend, and prefer the greater complexity of flavors compared to Bingley's Novel Chai. Comparing it to, say, Bigelow's Constant Comment, which I'd also classify as a chai-type, the Stash isn't overhwhelmed by cinnamon like CC is (though I do like CC for it's own sake).

Mystery Tea!

Today's tea is courtesy of a gift basket (long story, not relevant). It is identified only as "Organic" (From "Davidson's Organics") but does not indicate the type of tea. The single-bag packaging has an image of some generic leaves on it. The company's website has a large variety of teas available, so we need more clues.

The tea bag smells minty, but a search on "mint" narrowed to "tea bags" only shows me the box packaging for 15 different teas with that keyword, and does not show what the individual teabag packaging looks like. So we are no closer to a clue.

Brewed at 212F for ... hmm, well, as long as it took me to write this up.

The aroma in the cup is pretty much what you get from a plain spearmint tea. It's a very pale gold, so if there's an admixture of tea proper, it's fairly small. Taste is pretty much like I'd expect from plain spearmint tea.

I'm not all that fond of plain mint tea. Though I have memories of having tea parties as a child with mint tea because my mother didn't think regular caffeinated tea was good for children.

I have several child's tea sets that I think date to my grandmother's childhood rather than my mother's (though it may be some were new to my mother and some older). One is so tiny it isn't good for anything but display. One is made from some sort of metal and only involves the serving vessels and no cups. The only set that is complete for serving tea is a lovely pink-flowered design, with teapot, creamer, sugar bowl, and two cups with saucers. There's also a set of dishes with teacups + saucers, plates, and a serving platter and bowl, but with no beverage service items, in plain white with a blue rim design. All of these are actual china and some show the ravages of their fragility, mended in various ways.

Do children still hold tea parties? Is it a thing? Or are these yet more of the generational detritus that someone, some day, will need to make decisions about?

Anyway, back to the mint tea. I think it's drinkable when sufficiently sweetened, but like most herbal teas, it isn't really my thing. (The one exception being Celestial Seasonings "Tension Tamer" which I drink under certain specific ritualized conditions.)