Modern dentistry is a miracle.

Cleaning day.  In the chair at 0800 and out the door at 0838.

And very little scraping-with-dental-picks, which gives me the heebie-jeebies (brrrrr).  Mostly done ultrasonically.  Cute young redheaded dental hygienist was a plus.

Other than a cavity of long standing in a far back, extremely awkward position that will probably necessitate the pulling (via dental surgery) of the tooth, and a needed crown the dentist keeps pestering me about, everything else looked good.  Which makes me happy.  My dentist is a personal friend as well as my friendly professional, but I still prefer not having his hands in my mouth manipulating sharp instruments.  With any luck, most of that phase of my dental rehabilitation is over. 

(Knocks on wood.)