It’s not really an idyll but it makes a great thread title. Today I bid fond farewell to a tooth, #14 he is called. #14 lived a hard life, always there when needed to crush foodstuffs. #14 will be 53 years old when the dentist yanks him from the mandible that has been his home for what seems like forever. How do I know that #14 is 53 years old? Because his owner, or host if you like, namely me, will also be 53 years old on this midsummer’s day. What a sublime way to mark a birthday. I will never forget the day when #14 passed on to tooth heaven. Nor will I forget what happened on my 53rd birthday.
So raise a glass in honor of #14. He was one hell of a molar and he died chewing, as any tooth would want to.
Mike
Happy Birthday Mike 
I guess you won’t be so long in the tooth now, huh Mike 
But I’m confused, were you born with adult teeth and missed the baby tooth stage?
MarkB
I thought someone might pick up on that. What I have heard is that the adult teeth are there in the jaw at birth but in a less developed form. And if that’s not true I bestow upon #14 an extra few years in recognition of meritorious service. 
Mike
Quoting from ol’ Webster’s entry on the word “idyll”: “2. a simple descriptive or narrative piece in verse or prose.”
I’d say your initial post qualifies. 
It wouldn’t be 53 if you’re 53 though. It would be a few years younger. You aren’t born with teeth, after all, and you lose the first set before you’re an adult.
Ah, my son lost #15 to the dentist yesterday but he’s only 37.
Mike
You (and he) have my sympathy. I’ve just returned from the dentist and the last time I saw #14 he was laying in the dentist’s tray, inert, cracked and discarded. 
My best wishes, #14. I hope there is a tooth heaven for you to spend the rest of eternity (or until the dentist tosses you into the hazardous waste bin).
Mike
Best wishes are in order! Happy birthday, and many more! Birthdays, that is, not pulled teeth.
Come to think of it, I’ve been to a few birthday parties, especially at the office, that were like pulling teeth…
Wow, me too! I absolutely refuse, though, to attend parties where they conduct cavity searches.
Jef
Jeferson, you are SO not coming to any of my parties. 
In fact, nothing like a coed cavity search to break the ice at parties. Right, Nano?
Coed, shmoed. Equal opportunity reigns! Keeps things hoppin’. 
At this point I would like to apologize to Mike for Nano’s disgraceful conduct in this thread. Really.
And Happy Birthday!
Yes, happy birthday. 
Speaking of teeth…a notable experience which really impressed me with the humility of flesh was when I had a broken rear molar removed. With just novocaine the oral surgeon took hold of it with a pliers-like instrument and yanked back and forth 'til it gave way and released it’s grip on my jaw with a kind of sucking sensation.
I’ve flossed religiously ever since.
He has my full empathy. I lost #15 to the dentist (actually the oral surgeon) due to a severe abscess in February at the age of 43.
We almost had the same birthday. Mine’s tomorrow, the 23rd.
OHHHH, what a way to spend the big day. If I had a nickle for every dollar some dentist/orthodontist/oral surgeon has gotten from me, I’d have a whole buncha nickles!
I have the wonderful joy of having to take off work and spending it taking my mail jeep to get it’s brakes fixed 
I have a horrible premonition that it’s the rotors again…and it’s not even two yet, but it’s had a hard life so far.
Happy birthday, you share it with my son, who is now 16 (shiver!), and a hearty ‘well served’ and ‘g_d speed’ to your dethroned dental denizen… may you recover well.
And yes, there are “buds” of your teeth at birth… so, give or take a little, you teeth, at least in part are pretty much as old as you are, though you haven’t gotten to make use of them all of that time.
Cheers!
Thanks to all for the birthday wishes. Nano, you can come to my party. I’m a registered nurse and we are known for our, shall I say odd, sense of humor. You will fit right in.
Now that I have had the life-experience of a tooth extraction I prefer not to go through it again although I have had worse days in my life. Thanks to all!
Mike
Great! I’ve got handcuffs and some leftover nitrous oxide rolling around somewhere in the car.