R.I.P. Tooth #27

Today I crossed the Rubicon and travelled to the oral surgeon's office to have #27 yanked and replaced by an implant topped, for now, by an abutment that will eventually carry a synthetic crown. The whole operation took about an hour and caused, at the time, no pain whatever. Now that the local anesthetic has worn off I'm substantially less comfortable (codeine Tylenol to the rescue), and the crater left by #27 is exceedingly ugly. Now there is nothing to do but wait for the wound to heal and hope that none of the possible negative consequences show up.