A woman who was employed as a dental receptionist told this story: I was on duty when an extremely nervous patient came for root canal surgery. He was brought into the examining room and made comfortable in the reclining dental chair. The dentist then injected a numbing agent around the patient’s tooth, and left the room for a few minutes while the medication took hold.

When the dentist returned, the patient was standing next to a tray of dental equipment.

“What are you doing by the surgical instruments?” asked the surprised dentist.

Focused on his task, the patient replied, “I’m taking out the ones I don’t like.”