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A typical day

Six to ten appointments, almost all referred by general dentists. You seat a patient, take images, numb the tooth properly, and then spend 45 to 90 minutes under a microscope cleaning and shaping canals you often cannot see with the naked eye. Some are straightforward. Some are a retreatment where another dentist's work has failed and you have to undo it first. Between cases you call referring dentists, read scans and see one emergency who woke up at 4am with a swollen face.