I went to the dentist today. One of the first questions the dental hygienist asked was, “Have you had any surgeries lately?” After responding with the appropriate “no,” I added that I am planning on having surgery this coming spring to replace my old, arthritic knee. Now I know why they ask that question.

She explained to me that if I have a surgery like that, the next time I come in for dental work of any kind they will have me take a rather massive amount of antibiotic an hour before any work is done. Apparently, with the large amount of bacteria that is usually present in the mouth, even cleaning your teeth can get some of those bacteria into your bloodstream where it will most likely go directly to the place on your body most susceptible to infection, in this case a replacement joint.

Sigh.

One more thing to worry about as I get older. Even the things that are supposed to help fix you up create potential hazards. Heck, just replacing the knee alone involves all sorts of risks. There’s a risk of infection, blood clots, nerve damage, poor healing, limited knee movement and other things, too. It almost makes you want to skip the whole thing.

On the other hand, the dentist said my teeth look good and to keep up the good work. I’m grateful for that. It looks like I will most likely be able to forego the false teeth that my parents needed as they got older (although my mother only required a bridge – something they don’t seem to do anymore). Then again, it would seem that my son is going to have even better teeth than I. At the age of almost thirty, he has never had a cavity in his life. I wish I could say the same. Ah, the benefits of advances in dentistry.