01-13-2026 — Price of Perfection

Howdy all. The "price of perfection" refers to the heavy costs — like stress, anxiety, lost time — incurred when striving for flawlessness, highlighting that perfection is often unattainable and comes with significant sacrifices.

And why did I write that? Well, today was a dental appointment, which was to be the installation of a cap on a rebuilt tooth. The temporary was glued in better than most of my “permanent” caps, and had to be cut and drilled, and plied out over a 30 minute period.

Then, after close to two hours later, I left with a “patched up” temporary crown, and lots of discomfort. Once again, the cap wasn’t “perfect” according to the dentist. Another set of impressions, using that crappy fast drying clay stuff, was done. Blame was placed on the unseen lab that created the cap. Could it possibly be, that if the impressions done 4 weeks ago had been done “perfectly”, the lab could get the cap built correctly?

I’ll be removing the hardened impression clay from between other teeth, for the next week. And worrying about whether the temp will hold up for the 23 days until the next appointment.

I am a fan of doing things right. But, when I say that, I mean doing it right the FIRST TIME. If you have to do something over and over and over, that suggests a lack of ability, or willingness, to do it right.

I can’t imagine that it doesn’t cost the practice money to have all of these re-do lab work. They don’t get to re-bill the insurance company.

So, I now have another appointment for February 5th, and if they actually have the cap back from the lab, I get to go do this again. Not on my list of ways to Enjoy Life