I am extremely phobic about dentists, having had one when I was a kid who didn’t use novocaine. As a result of my phobia (and the fact that I didn’t have dental insurance for a long time), I spent years not going to the dentist at all. No – not years – decades.
Today I had a tooth pulled. This is not the first tooth I’ve had pulled. I’m sitting here holding a bag of frozen corn to my swollen jaw. I’m a recovering addict so I can’t take pain pills – I’m doing this on horse-pill Motrin and a bag of frozen corn.
Kids – brush and floss, go to the dentist regularly. Really.
If MY dentist didn’t use novicaine on me, I’d hurt him. Really bad. That wasn’t fair… if it was for a grownup, I can understand not using novicaine, but a little kid? Pffft. The man just be hung by his thumbs.
Another little scary having to do with teeth and drugs - my dentist told me that people who have done enough cocaine to have built up a tolerance also have a tolerance to the various xxxcaines used as local anesthetics in dentistry. To quote him, “It’s impossible to keep those people numb for longer than three minutes.”
Oh twickster, I thought I was the only one who had a sadistic dentist as a child
My experiences affected me exactly the opposite of you – I am a freak about my teeth. And guess what? I still had to have a tooth pulled this year – talk about being freaked out. I couldn’t afford to be knocked out so I was awake for the whole thing.
You too, contrary. I went out and bought a new squeezy ball at the dollar store because my old squeezy ball for the dentist finally sprung a leak. It’s nice to have something to hold on to as hard as possible with both hands.
This guy was actually very good – real fast. When I had it done before, she kind of hesitated in the middle and it made it much worse.
Yesterday was my first visit to a dentist in about five years. I, too, had insurance problems. Turned out I was in the early stages of gum disease but fortunately all could be saved.
twickster good luck and best wishes on the future of your mouth!
I hate the dentist but still force myself to go once a year (lucky enough to have had insurance my whole adult life).
I have had teeth pulled - my wisdom teeth. I was awake (but breathing nitrous/laughing gas) at the time. I will never forget when the dentist starting tugging on one tooth that he had sectioned with a saw(?). I felt a sudden release followed by screams of “Don’t swallow! Don’t swallow!” My tooth had exploded into a million fragments inside my mouth. Nice.
Having said that, I agree with everyone else here: prevention is key. Go to the dentist. Treat him well. He really is trying to help you.
I hear young dopers can get some kind of a coating on their permanent teeth to protect them from decay. Be worth looking into.
I went to this dentist on Maui. His biz name was “The Whole Tooth Nothing But The Tooth”. I swear to God! He told me Yola, teeth were only made to last so long, 50 years max. Time to start thinkin about falsies.
I floss everyday, (toothpik after every meal), water pik with a tad of Listerine, rinse with anti-plac and brush. Get my teeth cleaned religously and still I’m losing them one by one. Could be I have heriditery peridontal.
Thanks for all your good wishes, gang. I’m feeling a little more human this morning. (Still a little swelling, definitely a little tender, I think I’ll stay on soft foods another day – but okay.)
For a long time I thought I was hallucinating the “no-novocaine” part of my childhood experiences, but I’ve talked to others – apparently it wasn’t that uncommon back in the '50s and '60s. Thanks for scarring an entire generation for life, dental professionals!
Contrary – nope, not Bryn Mawr, but very, very close – Ardmore, on Montgomery Avenue, in his home His daughter was in my sister’s class at Penn Valley. He also had an office in town at 16th and Walnut.
Koeeoaddi (hey sweetie, always good to see you) – nope, Roxborough. A Korean gentleman by the name of Dr. Oh, which naturally enough I heard as “Dr. Ow” when I met him yesterday. He was humming “Summertime” on and off throughout the whole thing – which was a little creepy, but not as creepy as a dirty fish tank.
twickster – His office may well have been in Armore, I don’t remember anymore and the lines blur between those two pretty quickly.
I had eight very deep cavities filled by him, two a week for four weeks, with absolutely no novacaine. This was in the 70s and I have been terrified every time I’ve gone to the dentist since then, even for minor things like having my teeth cleaned.
As I said, my experience had the opposite effect on me – I am zealous about brushing, flossing and seeing the dentist every six months. That still didn’t stop one of my molars from cracking last December and the crack was bad enough that the crown didn’t help.
My current dentist said I could try a root canal but that chances were good the crack extended to the root and that the tooth was probably not going to make it. I opted to have it pulled (:(), and a bridge put in.
On the plus side, I get my teeth cleaned last week. After all the nasty procedures I’ve had done this year, I don’t think I will be quite so terrified this time.
