Btw, these days a psychopath going to a dental clinic looking for pain may be disappointed sorely. The only pain is going to be the pain of disappointment 😄. Unless, of course the dentist is bad with his / her ‘aim’ while giving the local anesthesia injection.
Ah, my poor antihero... Maybe I should set this story in a different time then, or look for a different source of pain, like waxing. At this rate, I hope I don't end up transforming into the character I created.
If you are looking for pain in dentistry you just need to travel back about 50 years.
Ajja took your mom and myself to his dentist friend in Theni (he is still practicing, I heard. He must be in his 80s) since she was complaining of toothache.
He had a belt-driven drill, the kind that runs by stepping repeatedly on a pedal. The drill bit probably had a rpm of about 100 (for reference, the current turbine-driven and electric motor handpieces have a rpm of between 300,000 and 350,000 and the drill bits are cooled by a continuous spray of water).
There was no coolant spray those days. So as the dentist continues to slowwwwly drill (while leaning into the drill for pressure), you can imagine the heat building up and frying the tooth.
Your mother was screaming all through the procedure (I don’t remember if he bothered to give a local anesthesia shot, likely not). I was nearly shitting my shorts watching this because I was going to be the next.
But after he finished filling the tooth with your mom continuously screaming and thrashing around on the chair, the dentist didn’t want to treat me at that time. I was relieved and disappointed in equal measures.
Your mom continued to cry non stop on the way back so ajja had to turn around and take her back to the dentist. This time the dentist did give an injection and pulled the tooth out and your mom was relieved of the pain.
I must have been 5 or so at that time but I still remember this vividly including the smell of the dental clinic and your mom’s non stop screaming.
One of the earliest memories of me being scared shitless.
Hahaha, surprising that despite that being one of your earliest memories, you picked the path of dentistry at a later stage. Mom hadn't told me this story before, it's fascinating how in that one dentist's lifetime, equipment and treatment methods have advanced so much!
I don't know if you remember, but there was this Rip Kirby comic in your collection called "A city named Harmony" or something, where Rip Kirby and his friend end up in a town stuck in the past (1800s), cut off from the rest of civilization, and a bunch of troublemakers start ransacking the town for antiques. The twist in that story has something to do with dentistry too (Novocaine vs Laughing gas). Maybe this is an under-exploited area of literature you should look into :p
The themes are getting progressively darker
Yeah, whatever strikes my fancy that day
Btw, these days a psychopath going to a dental clinic looking for pain may be disappointed sorely. The only pain is going to be the pain of disappointment 😄. Unless, of course the dentist is bad with his / her ‘aim’ while giving the local anesthesia injection.
Ah, my poor antihero... Maybe I should set this story in a different time then, or look for a different source of pain, like waxing. At this rate, I hope I don't end up transforming into the character I created.
If you are looking for pain in dentistry you just need to travel back about 50 years.
Ajja took your mom and myself to his dentist friend in Theni (he is still practicing, I heard. He must be in his 80s) since she was complaining of toothache.
He had a belt-driven drill, the kind that runs by stepping repeatedly on a pedal. The drill bit probably had a rpm of about 100 (for reference, the current turbine-driven and electric motor handpieces have a rpm of between 300,000 and 350,000 and the drill bits are cooled by a continuous spray of water).
There was no coolant spray those days. So as the dentist continues to slowwwwly drill (while leaning into the drill for pressure), you can imagine the heat building up and frying the tooth.
Your mother was screaming all through the procedure (I don’t remember if he bothered to give a local anesthesia shot, likely not). I was nearly shitting my shorts watching this because I was going to be the next.
But after he finished filling the tooth with your mom continuously screaming and thrashing around on the chair, the dentist didn’t want to treat me at that time. I was relieved and disappointed in equal measures.
Your mom continued to cry non stop on the way back so ajja had to turn around and take her back to the dentist. This time the dentist did give an injection and pulled the tooth out and your mom was relieved of the pain.
I must have been 5 or so at that time but I still remember this vividly including the smell of the dental clinic and your mom’s non stop screaming.
One of the earliest memories of me being scared shitless.
Hahaha, surprising that despite that being one of your earliest memories, you picked the path of dentistry at a later stage. Mom hadn't told me this story before, it's fascinating how in that one dentist's lifetime, equipment and treatment methods have advanced so much!
I don't know if you remember, but there was this Rip Kirby comic in your collection called "A city named Harmony" or something, where Rip Kirby and his friend end up in a town stuck in the past (1800s), cut off from the rest of civilization, and a bunch of troublemakers start ransacking the town for antiques. The twist in that story has something to do with dentistry too (Novocaine vs Laughing gas). Maybe this is an under-exploited area of literature you should look into :p