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21st Century dentistry is barely more advanced than leeches and bloodletting.

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moshquerade said:
use a flosser if you don't like conventional flossing or i see more cavities in your future...

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I just got about 500 of these in the mail to give out to patients. If you lived closer I'd throw a bunch at you. 😛
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even better is that aquafresh thing with the long handle
 
had two teeth pulled about 1 month ago. one was an impacted wisdom tooth that I should have had pulled long ago and the other was due to an infected tooth because of my ignorance.

the novacaine shot did hurt, but it definitely did not compare to the pain I had been feeling with in my infected tooth. anyways, my tooth pulling experience was more pleasant than I expected.

during the infected tooth removal, I only felt pressure which my dentist informed me would occur before the tooth removal. during the wisdom tooth removal which needed a gum incision, I felt some minor pain for a short period on the tail end of the removal which was easily tolerable.

overall, I barely felt anything. I don't know why people complain about novacaine shots. the pain is very temporary and pretty tolerable for me at least and the trade off is being numbed up which is most definitely a desirable effect.

the biggest thing that annoyed me was trying not to produce a dry socket situation after my teeth removal.
 
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techs said:
They still use drills to remove cavities, and painful injections of anesthetic that causes more pain than it prevents.
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The drills work very well, why change what works? For many things surgeons still use scalpels which are effectively just razors stuck on the end of stick. They use it because it works as well as anything else.

And if you honestly believe the Novocaine shots hurt worse than the pain you'll feel if they don't use them I suggest you go without them next time and see how things work out.
 
techs said:
The one area of "medicine" that just never seems to advance is dentistry.

They still use drills to remove cavities, and painful injections of anesthetic that causes more pain than it prevents.

Just an observation as I sit here after having a tooth pulled and half my face looking like football.
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You need a new dentist.

Modern dentistry is awesome.

MotionMan
 
Back in ye old days - I could definitely agree with the negative comments - I hated going to the dentist. Back then they didn't numb up the area - just went in with the needle and expected you to just suffer. They also didn't use anything to prevent crap from falling into the back of your mouth either. Plus - more times than not, you could smell the burn whenever they needed to drill/fill a cavity. And of course the dreaded color of fillings - SILVER.

Today - swab the area with some "numb goo", wait a few minutes, then inject your mouth with the good stuff. Few minutes later, install the dental dam and do the repairs. Pretty sure if my mouth wasn't numbed up - installation/removal of the dental dam would hurt like hell. I like my dentist - he's old, but he knows how to make it as painless as possible [I've actually dozed off for the 3 times he's had to install a crown and fill cavities]. Plus - the lady who cleans my teeth every 6 months is awesome too.

There has only been one time where a dentist didn't give me a shot to drill out a small cavity - that was in the Air Force. Crazy old dentist didn't think I needed it - he barely hit a nerve a few times, but it was ok. I had my wisdom teeth removed while in the air force - the drugs they gave me afterwards were AWESOME. 🙂
 
techs said:
The one area of "medicine" that just never seems to advance is dentistry.

They still use drills to remove cavities, and painful injections of anesthetic that causes more pain than it prevents.

Just an observation as I sit here after having a tooth pulled and half my face looking like football.
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Must have gone to the VA or had a government dentist do the work. Real dentists do a MUCH better job. Lot of personal experience in government vs civilian dentistry myself.
 
I just had several two and three surface resin/composite fillings that weren't possible 10 years ago. 10 years ago, I would have required either a full crown (with or without root canal) or extraction. Cost me 1/5 of a crown and the cosmetic result is pretty good.

Oh, and its believed we are three to five years from tooth stem cell implants (autograph). And they actually have new high pressure water-jet and ultrasonic "drills" that can make quick work of teeth, but some parts will always require a mechanical drill bit or burr.
 
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Eos said:
I like it when the chick hygienists and assistants rub their boobs on my arm... :biggrin:
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You must have a bad one...
Here they rub them nearly everywhere... 😛

Though in truth that was more for ortho stuff then just normal dentist stuff. 🙁
 
techs said:
The one area of "medicine" that just never seems to advance is dentistry.

They still use drills to remove cavities, and painful injections of anesthetic that causes more pain than it prevents.

Just an observation as I sit here after having a tooth pulled and half my face looking like football.
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Feel sorry for you...but you have a shitty dentist...
 
techs said:
And anesthesia does hurt when it goes in. It's gotten better over the years, but its still not painless.
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the delivery system my dentist uses is completely painless, feels like someone is just applying a little bit of pressure.

I've only had anesthesia when I had to get a wisdom tooth pulled, if it's just a cavity then I don't need anesthesia.
 
moshquerade said:
use a flosser if you don't like conventional flossing or i see more cavities in your future...

prod-twin-line-flosser-mid.jpg


I just got about 500 of these in the mail to give out to patients. If you lived closer I'd throw a bunch at you. 😛
Click to expand...

41MA5NQP2HL._SS400_.jpg


Gum disease runs in the family. After using this thing...no more bleeding gums. I recommend this to anyone who hates flossing.
 
excellent the waterpik worked for you :thumbsup:

how are your periodontal exams now when you get your teeth cleaned? pocket reduction noted?
 
techs said:
The one area of "medicine" that just never seems to advance is dentistry.

They still use drills to remove cavities, and painful injections of anesthetic that causes more pain than it prevents.

Just an observation as I sit here after having a tooth pulled and half my face looking like football.
Click to expand...

Whenever I go to the dentist, I refer to is as the "medieval torture chamber." Seriously though, my dentist is pretty awesome. If you actually feel the injections, your dentist is doing it wrong. My dentist rubs a topical anesthetic on your gums and you do not feel anything when they give you the injection.
 
Anubis said:
my issue with floss is that my hands are simply too large to get the floss in my mouth properly.

i finally gave in and use those flossers
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well that works. :thumbsup:
just make sure you are not just popping them in and out, but go under the gum with them too as plaque/tartar builds up there.


floss3.jpg
 
RocksteadyDotNet said:
I would say the opposite is true.

Modern dentists can fix anything. ANYTHING.

No matter what the problem is, with enough money, you can end up with a head full of nice teeth. Every tooth in your mouth could be rotten, but you can replace them all with implants..
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Molars... With Frikkin Lazer Beams!!


Ill Tempered, of course.
 
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