Dental woes

This morning I was at the very busy Longwood Starbucks having coffee with a dear friend who is the office manager at a local dental office. I'm not sure what led to a discussion of popcorn -- our conversations are always global in their scope -- but she said it's the number-one cause of dental problems at her office over the holiday. Apparently crunching down on a piece of popcorn, much less an unpopped kernel, can wreak havoc with a tooth that's weakened or that already has a small fracture in it. And patients trying to get those pesky bits of shell out of their gums can actually push them down further, requiring dental tools for removal.