I went to the dentist, visits that I just don't enjoy. I believe many people of my age, who experienced dental work in the 60's, may also dread going to the dentist.
Do you remember your visits to the dentist when you were young. I do, and found that the word dentophobia, relates to someone who has had a traumatic experience with a dentist. Okay, sign me up. I'm really very afraid of going to the dentist. When I was a teenager, a dentist told my mother that I had too many teeth in my mouth. The fix? Mom had the dentist pull out two healthy teeth. Wonder what she was thinking? To top off that experience, my sister wanted to go shopping. You would assume that my mother would pick another day for shopping, but sadly no. I went shopping, in pain and having those bits of cloth stuck in the now empty holes. As an adult, I can't imagine telling a dentist to pull out perfectly good teeth.
Dentists' offices were different back then. Unlike today, where the instruments of the trade - drill, etc., are no longer in your field of vision, unless the dentist needs to use the tools. Gone too, is the circular and fluted dental tray. It looked more like a steering wheel than anything a dentist would have in his office.
Over the years, I have the unfortunate experience of going to dentists, who had very unusual ways to work on your mouth. One dentist, literally put a rubber mask (for lack of a better word) over my mouth. He then kept my mouth open with something that reminded me of a horse bit. I complained to my parents, and I luckily didn't have to return to him. Sometimes I wonder whether I would prefer going to a doctor and getting shots, than see a dentist!
When our boys were young, we took them regularly to a children's dentist. All their visits to the dentist, were positive ones. I'm so very glad that we did this for the boys. As adults, I think they don't have the same fear of dentists, as I do. And, for that, I'm glad.
Yesterday's appointment was putting that plastic mold in your mouth. Once confident that the mold will fit, they then put that gooey stuff in the mold and put this in your mouth. It's not painful in the least, but I dread it anyway.
More dental visits in my future - boy I can hardly wait!
Fun Teeth Facts
- Hesy-Re was an Egyptian scribe who lived around 2600 B.C. and is recognized as the first dental practitioner.
- Paul Revere, famous for warning Colonial troops that the British were coming, was also trained as a dentist by America’s first dentist, John Baker.
- Edward H. Angle, who started the first school of orthodontics in 1901, created a simple classification for crooked teeth in the late 1800s, a system still in use today.
- The first dental X-ray was used in 1896.
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