Mental Dental

    I walked around the streets near my flat. It was a beautiful, almost spring-like day. I took pleasure in getting lost within the winding, meandering streets as I worked out my way back home. Just up ahead I saw a big glob of some indeterminate matter on the pavement. As I got closer I saw that it was a massive clump of chewing gum. It was about the size of a ping pong ball and would have taken some concentrated, determined chewing. As I passed the lump, laying there in a pool of drool, a frisson of horror suddenly chilled me as it dawned on me what this was. An entire molar was embedded into the gelatinous mass of gum, its three-pronged root pointing at the sky. I hurried quickly on, wondering whether this was the result of an accident or an emergency procedure of self-dentistry.

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