The Trooth in Dentistry

CHAPTER 1

Needles and X-rays and Drills, Oh My!

RIGHT NOW, SOMEWHERE in the United States, someone in a dentist’s chair is in pain—not the kind of pain associated with oral infection or disease, but the kind of pain that comes from receiving improper care. The sound of the drill is thrumming through every bone in his skull. He can smell the tips of his oral nerve endings being torched. Though his eyes are shut tight in an effort to keep the tears from streaming down his face, he knows his gloved and masked torturer is hovering over him, mere inches from his propped-open mouth. These patients, experiencing this pain, feel absolute vulnerability. But the larger truth is that we are all this vulnerable when it comes to receiving the dental care we deserve.

Right now, somewhere in the United States, someone in a dentist’s chair is in pain—not the kind of pain associated with oral infection or disease, but the kind of pain that comes from receiving improper care.

Even if just one out of every ten patients reports experiencing pain during a dental visit, that is one patient too many. In the earliest days of professional dentistry—at around the time of the construction of the Egyptian pyramids—having a tooth pulled felt like … well, you can imagine! Five thousand years ago, the Chinese assigned some twenty-six acupuncture sites to toothache relief, and the Sumerians attributed all oral suffering to demons. Fast forward a few eras, and cocaine numbed the gums for dental procedures in North America throughout the nineteenth century. Novocaine made its debut in 1905. Think about the first electric dental drill—it was used in this country in 1870,¹ and it took hours to complete just one filling. Think about all those root canals dentists performed starting in the 1830s.

The dental office has come a long way from these days!

Read these chapters thoroughly to learn all you need to know about basic oral care, what to look for in a dentist, and what kind of dentist deserves closer scrutiny.

We dentists know that stress hormones run high for a lot of our patients. People list all of the following fears factors when asked what comes to mind when they think about their next dental appointment: the needle, the pain, the drill, the invasiveness, the cost, lectures, bad memories, the sounds, the smells, complications, and poor service. All this anxiety is perfectly understandable, but this book is going to shed light on the final two (complications and poor service), in addition to offering an overall education on key points of oral health.

We’ve all seen and read about complications—and even deaths—from dental care gone horribly wrong. Could any of those have been prevented? If dentists followed better procedures and offered better service, patients would certainly experience less suffering.

Patients, this book is for you—read these chapters thoroughly to learn all you need to know about basic oral care, what to look for in a dentist, and what kind of dentist deserves closer scrutiny.

Of course, the science and art of dentistry are rapidly evolving. And contrary to popular belief, we dentists take no delight in the fear or monster mythology surrounding our profession. We embrace the development of drugs and other techniques to ease our patients’ pain, and we rejoice as our tools and drills become faster and more efficient. Sterilization equipment and strict sanitation requirements are implemented to meet increased public health awareness and regulations. Laser technology, safer x-ray procedures, and the reclining dental chairs that some of our patients now fall asleep in have brought us a long way, and we hope to continue on that road. We hand out those free toothbrushes with our names on them not as a gimmick, but with the genuine hope that each and every one of our patients will pay stronger attention to good dental hygiene.

There is nothing more rewarding to your dentist than to see that you have been doing your job—taking care of your mouth—at home. Dentists are more aware than anyone of the value of a good smile. Putting aesthetics aside for a second, studies have shown that the health of your teeth and gums greatly affects your overall health and wellbeing. Poor dental hygiene can result in impaired eating and sleeping habits—you might eat less or choose softer foods, and you might be plagued by chronic pain. People with oral health concerns may avoid laughing and smiling out of embarrassment. They may avoid social contact, experience social isolation, and battle depression. Developing babies smile in the womb. Research has proven that people who smile more often live longer.

In an independent study conducted on behalf of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, 99.7 percent of Americans believe a smile is an important social asset. You might say, "Yes, but that’s cosmetic dentistry; that’s just about what people look like, and I don’t care about those superficial judgments." But even if you don’t die younger because you aren’t big on smiling, or even if you smile a lot even though your teeth are in poor shape, there are other psychosocial issues you must face.

One study revealed that people are more likely to bail out on a second date with someone who has bad teeth than someone who lives with his or her parents. The same study showed that skill set and experience being equal, people with straight teeth are perceived to be 45 percent more employable than those with crooked teeth. Ron Gutman, CEO of HealthTap and TEDMED contributor, cites studies showing