Root Canal on the Road: My New York Times Piece

In September I wrote to the editor for the "frequent flyer" column in the New York Times, noting that my recent emergency root canal in Sacramento, while not the most pleasant experience (gripping a chair for two hours while a complete stranger ripped nerves out of my mouth was not the California experience I had in mind when I set out from New York the day before), might be good fodder for a piece.

She called me immediately, and said I should write it up. Most of the submissions for that column fall into the how-the-airline-lost-my-luggage category, and this was different. The fact that she was facing her own root canal for the first time the next day added to the intrigue. So I wrote it up, the Times sent a photographer for a photo shoot near our office in Union Square and here's what appeared:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/business/02flier.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Frequent Flier

That Big Bandage on My Head? Let Me Explain


By ROB DeROCKERPublished: October 2, 2007I try not to make a habit of medical emergencies during business trips. But when you fly over 100,000 miles a year, chances are good that something will go wrong. Especially when, on occasion, you make some less than inspired choices.

Last year right before a client meeting in San Juan, I made a trip to St. Croix, where my wife and I own a condominium. I was exploring a remote beach wearing a set of well-worn sandals. Appropriate footwear? Not for me. I went flying off the coral rock and landed on my skull.

The result? A cut so deep I used my finger as a dipstick to measure it. I walked two miles back to my car, and then drove five miles to the condo. While I’m sure St. Croix has superb medical facilities, I opted to ask a neighbor to patch me up. She bandaged me with a white skullcap contraption that made me look as if I had just undergone a lobotomy.

My new head gear generated some prolonged stares at both the St. Croix and San Juan airports. Thankfully, I received no special scrutiny from airport security. I did, however, have some explaining to do when I saw my client, whom I was meeting in person for the first time. She kindly pretended not to notice my bandaged head, as if lunches with lobotomized marketing consultants were a part of her routine.

Scalp injuries are unpleasant. But nothing compares with the on-the-road dental emergency.

My upper right molar had been bothering me sporadically for months. The day before a business trip to Sacramento last August to attend the annual gathering of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives, the tooth started acting up again. This time, the pain kept me up most of the night. But rather than cancel the trip and go to my dentist, I made my flight the next morning. By the time we were making our descent into the San Francisco airport, I was in unbearable pain.

I managed to drive to Sacramento with a thick application of Orajel coating my tooth and gum. In the meantime, I contacted my client who found a dentist who would take my company’s dental insurance and give me a next-day appointment.

The root canal was a screaming success. Unfortunately, the tooth was infected, and the infection spread to my sinuses.

Having been suffused with antibiotics and codeine, I have only vague recollections of the conference. I believe I met some nice people from Spokane and Fort Worth. I’m pretty sure I had breakfast with the Sacramento client who led me to the dentist. I do remember a friend from Seattle, who was also a conference speaker, saying it wouldn’t be the first time someone had told him they would rather have a root canal than sit through one of his speeches.

Since August, I’ve been to Manchester, England; Savannah, Ga.; Miami; Puerto Rico; and back to Sacramento with four different antibiotics coursing through my veins. I still have the infection.

Sage advice from all this? Not really, except wear good shoes when you take a hike. And when your dentist says you don’t have to floss all your teeth — just the ones you want to keep — listen.

By Rob DeRocker, as told to Joan Raymond. E-mail: joan.raymond@nytimes.com

Rob DeRocker is an executive vice president at Development Counselors International, a marketing firm based in New York.