My dad was a dental technician. That meant he made false teeth for people who needed them. He had a place of business but he also used to make some in our home. He had turned the back of the garage into a lab for him to work out of. I used to love to go in there and check out all the stuff he used, drawers full of fake teeth of various shades, plaster and some pink powder stuff you mixed with a liquid that would heat up and harden for the “gum” looking base of the teeth. One time my dad explained to me that he didn’t put all the teeth perfectly straight, he would offset one tooth slightly to make them look real. I realized some years later that what he was doing was like an art form with each piece unique. Today dentures are probably made by some 3D printer that punches them out like widgets. Even if they have programmed in a little variation it is still not unique or as crafted as what my dad was doing, and to me that is a shame. I know I am sounding old right now, but all of our technology and advances are making some things better, and making us worse. We are losing the art of using our hands, craftsmen and tradesmen learned under someone who had done it for years and they learned to build and create things we needed and in many cases unique things of beauty that were made to last. Today we punch them out by the thousands and throw them away as soon as we are tired of them. I know the reality of the cost of labor, and understand that today I can’t afford quality or artistry, but I wish more of us could earn our living with our hands, that way we would see more of the artistry in us all.