A mouth numbing adventure

I had one of my adventures today that I could have done without.  I just returned from the dentist.  For a few weeks now I have had a pain on my left side while chewing.  Since I have good insurance here I decided to go today instead of waiting to see what happens and perhaps having difficulty at home that could cost me much.
So, without an appointment I took the cold short walk down the street to the dentist.  In about 20 minutes I was sitting in the chair searching for the pain spot.  He spoke good English and asked me to bite down hard on something he placed in my mouth.  Nothing!  No pain anywhere.  I was getting frustrated since it hurt at lunch.  He changed objects for me to bite down on and started over.  Nothing, nothing, Booooong!   "Found it!" he laughed as they picked me up off the floor and gently put me back into the chair.  I complained to him that they needed seat belts on those things.  A guy could get hurt flying out of a chair like that.
I was then led into a small ex-ray room with what must have been a new helper.  She struggled getting the plate into place inside my mouth and keeping it there.  Then she struggled getting the small ex-ray machine in position.  She held the plate in place with one hand and took the ex-ray with the other. Really!  Finally, she had both plate and machine where she wanted them.  My cell phone went off the instant she snapped  the picture!  Really!  We both jumped and she yelled in surprise!  I almost laughed out of that chair!  She went to look at the ex-ray and she came back smiling telling me we had to do it again!  I wasn't surprised.
The dentist then proceeded to tell me the tooth looked normal but there might be a secondary cavity beneath the filling or I had a canal issue.  He couldn't tell until he dug out the old filling.  He insisted on using an anesthetic since his digging would be deep.
Once he started digging his expression alarmed me.  I always watch doctors and dentist's faces when they work on me.  I am looking for calm assurance and confidence.  What I saw was him shaking his head and mumbling something like uh uh uh!  I looked over to the nurse for some reassurance and she was also shaking her head and looking at the doctor with alarm.  Not a good sign!  Suddenly the tooth broke off and a large piece headed down my throat with my head tilted back lower than my feet.  The doctor with alarm in his voice told me, "quick, turn to the right, turn to the right!"  I could feel myself starting to gag on the piece as he reached for an instrument and started to extricate it.  He acted very quickly and I heard a sigh of relief from him as he grabbed the piece and then held it up for me to see.
Obviously he had to go to plan B.  I am just glad he had one.  He proceeded to grind the remaining part of the tooth down and filled it.  A crown is in my future, so I am told. 
The whole procedure lasted a little more than an hour. When I went to pay I got out my Korean credit card out expecting to pay much when the doctor said what was equivalent to $10.00.  I ask him to repeat that, surely he meant 100,000 Won ($100.00).  No, 10,000 won ($10.00).
Not a bad price to pay for a tooth on the verge of shattering.  It was better to have it break there in the dentist chair than at 34,000 feet!  I must be careful with that tooth until I return for the crown, but that should be no problem.  In the meantime, Bonnie is thinking of getting out the suitcases.   Here we go again!