During a routine dental appointment last year, the dentist X-rayed my mouth and asked if I had discomfort in a back molar. I confessed that I did. She said it was infected and needed a root canal and a crown. She referred me to an endodontist nearby for the root canal.

To allay fear about the procedure, I started praying and looking for inspiration. On JSH-Online.com. I found a testimony, “Tooth restored” (Linda Ross, Sentinel, July 25, 2022), which spoke directly to my need. A statement shared from Unity of Good by Mary Baker Eddy was particularly helpful: “Error says God must know death in order to strike at its root; but God saith, I am ever-conscious Life, and thus I conquer death; for to be ever conscious of Life is to be never conscious of death. I am All. A knowledge of aught beside Myself is impossible” (p. 18).

This confirmed what I had learned from my study of Christian Science—that decay is a lie about God’s perfect spiritual creation, which is always harmonious and intact. I pondered the quote all weekend and was feeling much calmer when I went to the endodontist. His assistant took an X-ray, then came in to get another “at a different angle,” then one more time for “just another angle.” Then the dentist came in, poked at the tooth, did some other tests, and finally declared my tooth perfect. He said my entire mouth looked fine, and he saw no need for a root canal or a crown. In the year since then, I’ve had no further trouble from the tooth.