Yesterday I did my first ride on a brand new set of Gatorskins. 12 miles in, I got a puncture from a 1" drywall screw that embedded itself in the tread of the tire right up to the screw head. I carefully extracted it by "unscrewing" it, replaced the tube with a spare I had with me, and finished the last 2 miles of my commute to work. I'm not super fast at changing flats, so I was delayed by about 30 minutes.

After removing the screw, it appeared that the rubber at the puncture sort of closed back up, but I was wondering if it will always be a bit of a weak spot for future rides? It would suck to replace a brand new tire, but maybe it's worth it for peace of mind. I commute to work quite a bit on some gnarly Brooklyn streets, and I'd like to avoid making myself more susceptible to flats than necessary. I'd rather buy a new tire if it gives me a better chance avoid future delays on my way to work, because my time is more valuable to me, but then again, maybe I'm just being silly and I won't experience more flats than would normally be expected.

Obviously I should learn to change flats faster, but the point is that I'd like to try to avoid them as much as possible by eliminating variables that I have control over. Any Input?