The Ballad of Jake

(A Cautionary Tale by Dr. Timothy P. Shannon)

This is the story of a man named Jake,
A hard-working guy who seldom took a break,
And then one day he was chewing on some food,
And bit hard into something that changed his pleasant mood…
Hurt it did, bad ache, in his mouth.

Well Jake, you know, never liked to see the doc,
So when the pain went away imagine what he thought,
“It’s no big deal and I’ve got the weekend off,
I’ll hit the links and play eighteen holes of golf”…
Lost six balls, lots of bogies, big duffer.

When Jake got home he was thirsty as could be,
Drinking something cold hurt so bad he couldn’t see,
He could feel his heart beating in his back tooth,
And then he realized the awful, ugly truth…
Big toothache, it’s the weekend, help !!!

Jake’s dentist Dr. Shannon had told him at his check-up,
“This tooth needs a filling, fix it now so it’ll heal up”
But Jake said “No I’ve got too much to do today,
Let me call you back so we can do it another day”…
That’s right, he forgot, never did call.

By now Jake’s wife could see him hurting so,
She knew right away he’d let his problem go,
She called Dr. Shannon and said “Would you help, please?”
They met him at the office to fix his cavity…
Too late, too deep, needs a root canal.

Since Jake was slow to get his filling done,
It grew too big while he was having fun,
A root canal treatment and porcelain crown later,
He knew by his waiting the problem became greater…
More trouble, more expensive too.

So now Jake listens when Dr. Shannon speaks,
He’s a lot more interested in what his dentist thinks,
And when he hears that everything’s okay,
No sweeter words are spoken, it makes his whole day…
Don’t worry, be happy, play golf.

(To be sung to the theme song of The Beverly Hillbillies)

Note: Jake is a composite of many patients Dr. Shannon has seen over the years. Any resemblance to a real person, living or deceased is pure coincidence. If, however, you know a “Jake” and he or she is putting things off, well …. Don’t be like Jake.)