Root Canal Operation Cuts Into Dow’s Travel Schedule

No jokes, please, about San Diego State center Marty Dow preferring a trip to the dentist over a trip to Utah.

Dow, SDSU’s 7-foot-1 center and leading scorer, underwent root canal surgery Friday morning in Salt Lake City after nursing a sore tooth since Tuesday, when he caught an elbow in the mouth during practice. Dow was back at practice Friday, and he will start tonight’s game at Utah.

Still, Salt Lake City isn’t going to make it on Dow’s list of favorite cities. It was here that his 1989-90 season came to an end when he aggravated a torn tendon in his right foot during SDSU’s 61-49 loss last Feb. 3. Dow underwent foot surgery; the Aztecs went 1-8 in his absence.

Dow shrugged off any Salt Lake City superstition with a laugh.

“The only thing I was worried about was the date it happened,” he said. “And the date’s already gone.”

Dow said the root canal procedure took just 20 minutes and the pain was gone by Friday night.

“Before I had it done, I couldn’t run up and down the floor and breathe through my mouth without it hurting,” he said.

The elbow came courtesy of teammate Vern Thompson--Dow thinks--Tuesday, and it cracked his left front tooth. The Aztecs decided to try to make it through this week’s trip to Brigham Young and Utah and have Dow’s mouth taken care of early next week.

A BYU team doctor injected Dow with Novacaine before Thursday’s 75-55 SDSU loss, but Dow said he received a couple of more elbows from BYU center Shawn Bradley during the game. Still, Dow scored 26 points. But by Friday, the pain had gotten worse.

Dr. Richard Elggren, Utah’s team dentist, performed part of the root canal Friday morning. The procedure is not quite finished--Dow still has to get more cleaned out and the final filling put in when he returns to San Diego.

But, by Friday evening, Dow was already feeling much better.