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Something's Replacing Your Bones, the Dentist Said is Copyright © 2000 by Ralph Robert Moore. All Rights Reserved.

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something's replacing your bones, the dentist said



Something's replacing your bones the dentist said holding up the small dark and ivory x-ray of three teeth squinting at it the hole still in your tooth he has to fill what do you mean but he says I don't know he feels with thumb and forefinger around the red ridge of gum above teeth dark outside he says let's try an experiment puts your forearm up to the x-ray machine has you hold a heavy white plastic square of lead behind your forearm goes out of the room buzz comes back and when this one's developed takes his glasses off puzzled something's replacing the bones in your body he lifts your forearm like listening for a pulse starts blinking pulls out one of his stethoscopes shushes you listens to your forearm a bird at the window beak pecking the glass the dentist pulls the black ear tips of the stethoscope out of the white hair in his ears says there's talking coming from your bones your bones are talking a lot of people talking all at once you say what are they saying he says I just heard one of them say but that wasn't the way it happened he looks at you you look at him he puts the black ear tips of the stethoscope back in his ears says let's see if they talk about disease because we can bill for that.