The Calculus by Paul Hostovsky
Listen Online
My hygienist likes to include me in the decision-making. “Shall we use the hand scaler or the ultrasonic today?” she asks me. I like the way she says “we,” like we’re doing something intimate and collaborative, like building a snowman, or more like dismantling one after an ice storm, flake by frozen flake. “The calculus is caused by precipitation of minerals from your saliva,” she explains. “You can’t remove it with your toothbrush. Only a professional can do that.” She’s very professional. She doesn’t dumb it down. “Pay more attention to the lingual side of your mandibular anteriors,” she says. I love it when she talks like that. I love the names of teeth: incisor, third molar, bicuspid, eyetooth. Her own teeth are virtuosic. “Calculus comes from the Greek for stone,” she says. “In mathematics it’s counting with stones. In medicine, it’s the mineral buildup in the body: kidney stones, tartar on teeth.” She teaches me all this as I sit there with my mouth open, looking astonished. “The Calculus” by Paul Hostovsky from Is That What That Is. © Future Cycle Press, 2017. Reprinted with permission. (buy now) |