DENTIST BRANCHES OUT (TREE) HOUSE CALL UNEXPECTED.

Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Dentist Ana Michel went out on a limb Monday for tree-sitting protester John Quigley.

Strapped in a harness and clad in scrubs, Michel pulled herself up to a crook in the giant oak tree in Stevenson Ranch, Quigley's home since Nov. 1.

Standing in the makeshift oak-appointed exam room, she checked the crown that Quigley had chipped on a Power Bar during his vigil to save the centuries-old oak from being moved to make room for a highway.

``I've been up in trees when I was a kid, but not this way,'' Michel said, laughing. ``This is definitely a first.''

At the request of a Spanish-language radio disc jockey stationed at the tree, the Huntington Park dentist agreed to help get to the root of the tree-sitter's pain.

Michel said she had assumed Quigley would be sitting in a chair at the bottom of the giant tree - dubbed Old Glory by those rallying to protect it. She was surprised to find him up amid the branches.

Quigley used a pulley system to bring up the dental tools and the temporary filling that a dental assistant had prepared at the bottom of the tree.

Since Michel couldn't inject a numbing agent in these less-than-hygienic conditions, she soothed the ache with oil of clove while working on the molar.

``Obviously, it was an unusual experience, but it was probably the best dental experience I've ever had because I didn't have all the machinery in my face,'' Quigley said later.

After this 25-minute appointment, Michel had reconstructed the chipped molar with a temporary filling that she said should last at least a couple of weeks.

``I like to take people out of pain,'' Michel said. ``There is a sense that dentists cause pain and I wanted to show that we alleviate pain.''

Meanwhile, a team of surveyors hired by developer John Laing Homes, worked on the ground below, measuring the oak and the area surrounding it. Quigley saw it as a positive note, hoping the workers can figure a way to build the highway around the tree, which sits in a narrow canyon near a burgeoning subdivision.

Los Angeles County officials said there is not enough room for both, but that they will listen to options. They maintain, though, that the highway will be built.

Back in the tree, Michel told Quigley he must see a dentist as soon as possible for a thorough examination. He likely needs a new crown, and possibly a root canal.

The not-so-sterile working conditions reminded Michel of the free dental care she provided to families in Baja California, Mexico, when she worked with the Rotary Club.

``We didn't have all the facilities that we'd like to have, so we had to do the best we could with what we had, and that's what we tried to do here,'' Michel said.

Michel, who wore surgical gloves and a mask, used sterile tools that had been wrapped in plastic. And while the conditions were questionable, she said she was fairly certain her patient wouldn't suffer any negative side effects.

The similarity of the tree and the bad tooth was lost on neither dentist nor patient.

``We talked about how it was like saving the tree,'' Quigley said. ``Basically, the area around the tree has been disturbed and we were concerned that the roots may be rotting because of a collection of water and we were really focused on restoring the area around the tree back to health. We talked about how that was kind of like what she did to my tooth.''

CAPTION(S):

6 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color -- ran in Valley edition only) Dr. Ana Michel makes a temporary repair to a broken tooth in the mouth of tree-sitter John Quigley. She expected to find her patient sitting at the base of the tree, and was surprised to find him up in the branches.

(2 -- 3 -- color -- ran in SAC edition only) Dr. Ana Michel, lower right, talks to John Quigley, in tree, about his broken tooth, in photo above. At right, Michel, wearing a harness, hoists herself up into the tree.

(4 -- color) In a fork of the old oak, Dr. Ana Michel confers with tree-sitter John Quigley about his painful tooth problem, fixed for a while by a temporary filling.

(5 -- 6 -- color) John Quigley holds a bucket filled with dental tools for Dr. Ana Michel, above. At right, Michel works to fix Quigley's broken tooth.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer