
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 17, 1990                   TAG: 9005170358
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: TYSONS CORNER                                LENGTH: Short

1,500-POUND TOOTH GETS BIT OF ROOT WORK

The uprooting of a 1,500-pound tooth has led some to suspect the tooth fairy might have bitten off more than it could chew.

Early last week, Dr. Thomas A. McCrary discovered vandals had tried to extract the 6-foot-tall tooth sculpture that normally stands in the front yard of his Tysons Corner dental office.

Since the concrete tooth is so heavy, the vandals managed only to turn it on its side. But a few days later, they came back and turned it upside down - in dentalese that's called uprooting.

McCrary doesn't know who would vandalize his tooth sculpture, which cost him $3,000. The tooth, by the way, is an upper right first molar, according to McCrary.

The tooth has become something of a landmark in the Tysons area.

"People know how to find the office because we tell them to look for the big tooth," McCrary said.

McCrary says his office is an easy target for vandalism because it's one of the few residential buildings among the many high-rises in Tysons Corner.

by CNB