My dentist died.

He was the very best dentist that I have ever known. Such a great dentist to have, in fact, that I travelled 250 miles, one way, to go to the dentist.

Amy, at first, wondered why I made it a point to go to Savannah when I needed to go see the dentist. She soon learned, and he became her dentist, as well.

First time I went to Dr. Kazlow's office in downtown Savannah was in 1992 when I took a lunch break from my work as an investigator back then. A friend recommended him when I had a filling loose. I was expecting the dreaded root canal sales pitch.

His office was not fancy. It was an old-fashioned office, and he even had the old-timey dental chair, equipment, and even the old porcelain spit-bowl. As I began taking off my suit coat, he asked if I had any allergies. I replied, "Yes, one...pain." He glanced at my sidearm and handcuffs and said, "Well, you came to the right place. No pain here."

"Good, because if you hurt me, I might shoot you," I replied, semi-jokingly.

I sat down in the dental chair and got comfortable. He looked at my tooth and then he said, "I need to take a picture to make sure nothing is too bad underneath everything."
Ok. Now comes the added things to bump up the cost of my visit and all because of this one tooth. He took an x-ray, and excused himself for a few minutes while he processed it and looked at it.

He came back in the room and said, "you don't need a root canal, but I am going to have to build your tooth up some and it will take about 3 fillings to build it up and fix it right."

Good, no root canal, but I was figuring he was going to sock it to me with the 3 fillings deal. I started bracing myself for the novacaine injection. I didn't feel a thing... not even the initial prick of the needle nor the liquid going into my gums. The only thing I felt throughout the whole ordeal was a little bit of pressure while he put the fillings in. He was right. No pain... so far... but I hadn't gotten the bill for his services yet.

When finished, I went to the front to pay the bill. He followed me there after he cleaned up. "I am going to have to charge you a little more than what I usually charge for a filling, since I had to put in 3 fillings and build that tooth up," he said. "Is $75 ok?"

No pain.

He was right.

I didn't even feel pain in my wallet. I was happy to pay him.

In Savannah, Dr. Kazlow was known as the "painless dentist". Amy found that out for herself. Being located downtown, being the most reasonable dentist I've known, having the very best "bedside" manners that I have seen, and being the most customer service-oriented dentist I've ever met, he will be greatly missed by me, by Amy, and by so many people who were his patients.

80 years old. He had been at the same office throughout most of his life. And from the window, he had witnessed half-century or more of history that passed by the intersection of Liberty St. at Bull St. in downtown Savannah.

How fortunate I feel in having had the honor to have befriended him.