A White House reporter asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday if President Joe Biden underwent a root canal because he is “not good at brushing his teeth.”
Biden rescheduled his entire day following an unexpected root canal for his lower right premolar. The president began experiencing discomfort on Sunday night and is scheduled to complete the second part of the procedure later Monday, per the White House.
“Is there any more information you can give on why he needed root canal? Like, is he not good at brushing at his teeth or does he need to floss better?” the reporter asked.
“Wow, are you gonna ask the millions of Americans across the country? Are you gonna ask them that question too?” Jean-Pierre responded.
“I did a little research this morning,” the reporter said.
“Look, I am certainly not a dentist by any means, so I cannot speak to what leads to a root canal. I know it is a regular dental procedure, it is not uncommon,” the press secretary said. “What I can certainly tell all of you — and I think we’ve said this, you all know this already, we shared this — he was not put under any general anesthesia. The 25th Amendment was certainly not invoked, and he received local anesthesia for the procedure. So I can certainly share all of that.”
“As far as the health of the president’s teeth, I cannot speak to that,” she added. (RELATED: Biden Gets Cancerous Skin Lesion Successfully Removed)
The president was scheduled to deliver remarks celebrating the men’s and women’s NCAA championship teams from the 2022-2023 season, a task Vice President Kamala Harris is now scheduled to fulfill. Biden’s meetings with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the White House reception for Chiefs of Mission will be rescheduled for Tuesday, the White House said.
The White House assured the public the 25th Amendment, which transfers power to the vice president if the president dies, resigns, is removed from office or is otherwise incapable of exercising his duties, was not invoked. In Nov. 2021, Harris became the first woman to exercise presidential power when Biden was placed under general anesthesia to undergo a routine colonoscopy.