Biden gets a root canal (without anesthetic) and postpones some events
President Biden is getting a root canal on Monday after he complained of a sore tooth.
White House physician Kevin O'Connor said in a memo that Biden had a toothache on Sunday on the lower right-hand side of his mouth — tooth 29, to be exact.
There's a dental office in the basement of the White House, and that's where a team from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center took X-rays and determined that a root canal was in order. Initial steps were done that day, and Biden "tolerated the procedure well," O'Connor said.
"He is experiencing further discomfort this morning, which was anticipated," O'Connor said in the memo.
Biden was not sedated for this root canal
The White House said Biden was not put under anesthesia for this root canal. That meant that he didn't need to briefly transfer his powers to Vice President Harris, under the 25th Amendment of the Constitution.
That's something he did in 2021 when he had a benign polyp removed from his colon during a routine colonoscopy.
Harris did, however, fill in for Biden at an event with college athletes.
Biden rescheduled a planned meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and an evening reception for the chiefs of mission, opting to wait until Tuesday instead. [Copyright 2023 NPR]
