WE WERE IN Cedar City, UT today to shop and had lunch at our favorite place, NINJA, a sushi restaurant.

I bit into an eggroll and felt something hard in my mouth. Gingerly pulling it out, my wife says "What is it?"

"It looks like a tooth," I said, mildly shocked. When, a moment later, I realized it was MY tooth, the shock level increased.

It's a tooth just to the left of my big front teeth. Never filled, never bothered me, never a problem. It didn't hurt, it made no sound, it just came apart, leaving a slight protruding remnant sticking out of my gum and a Grand Canyon size gape in my mouth. I could play the role of one of the hillbillies in "Bubba Goes Fishing."

I don't like to think about what this will require, dental work-wise. I hope it doesn't mess up my whistling.