Saturday, October 14, 2006

Dentist vs Stupid People

I was surfing the web when I came across this website called Toothache at Holy Shmoly!

I had a good laugh. It's amazing how ignorant some people are. If you are getting pain obviously your body is trying to tell you something is very wrong, but instead of seeking professional help guess what these people do? Go on the net and ask about home remedies. Yes, go on, drink those alcohol. Just wait till the infection spread and you end up in the hospital emergency department dying from caries.

Why are there so many stupid ppl? -_-"

Here's one of the comment on the website by someone called Ban Fillings and my replies.

Ban Fillings Aug 25th, 2006 at 10:02 am

The problem with amalgam fillings, apart from the fact that the mercury in them is toxic and could very well be creating a host of long-term illnesses in your body, is that in order for fillings to hold, dentists have to drill the cavity out quite deeply, thereby reducing the strength of the tooth by 75%. Fillings later expand and cause the tooth to crack and this harbours more decay and the filling eventually falls out leaving the tooth in worse shape than had the initial cavity been left alone. I can’t wait for all my amalgam fillings to fall out. But will I get them drilled out or replaced by new generation fillings? No way. I have found that the pain related to a cavity or a broken tooth, while intense, is usually short-lived - lasting generally no longer than a week max and the pain is mostly controllable during that time anyway. The body obviously has a way of counteracting the pain. I mean, you have to ask yourself “how did people cope in the days before dentistry?” I find that most of the pain of a toothache is related to food particles and tooth/filling fragments that irritate the cavity. Therefore my first line of defence is to use strong (rounded) wooden toothpicks to dislodge these particles and clean out the cavity and thoroughly work the toothpick between the adjoining teeth. Then using my thumb and forefinger I wiggle the affected tooth as much as possible from side to side and then bite down on a tissue that’s been folded over and over. I do this routine after every meal and whenever I feel pain. All this manipulation can intensify the pain momentarily, but in my experience the body remedies the situation itself within a few days. If I’m feeling excrutiating pain I find that swilling brandy or similar over the affected area in conjunction with a dose of headache tablets before going to bed works wonders. Would I get another filling? No way. Would I get a tooth extracted? Yes, but only if the pain of the toothache was so bad that I wasn’t prepared to wait for it to fall out on its own. But if you can stand a little discomfort, be patient and your body will generally rectify itself.

dentistdownunder Sep 5th, 2006 at 2:49 pm

Ban Fillings,

Maybe you should advocate prevention instead of spewing rubbish. Prevention is the best cure. Leaving infection untreated is just asking for trouble. You are lucky nothing has happen to you yet, but others are not as fortunate as you. I’ve seen several cases at the hospital emergency department where ppl almost died from complications developed from a simple decay that was being ignored. Infection, if left untreated, can spread. Maybe you should try pulling them out with pliers yourself instead of leaving them in your mouth. Try leaving an open wound on your arm and bath it constantly in fluid loaded with bacteria and tell me what happen.

Ban Fillings Sep 9th, 2006 at 7:18 pm

Dentist Down Under,

Prevention of decay is all very good, but the dentists’ philosophy of saving a tooth at any cost rather than extracting it is a profit motivated practise. Drilling and filling teeth is an expensive, destructive, cosmetic and very temporary solution to the problem akin to grinding the rust out of a car body and filling it with bog before respraying - it looks okay for a while, but the damage is already done and the underlying decay will keep resurfacing.

I am not advocating that people ignore infection. The pain they experience is the body’s way of telling them there is something the matter. If they clean out the food particles and bits of toxic filling and remove the sections of bad tooth, the pain usually disappears within a couple of days without any other intervention.

The money-generating dental “profession” has only been around a century or so, yet people seemed to manage before then somehow, even if they didn’t have perfectly straight, Hollywood bleached teeth. The human race managed to survive before dentists came along by using common sense and allowing the body to heal itself.

Generations of people now have been conditioned to book an appointment with the dentist at the first sign of a toothache, or trained by the dentist to go regularly for checkups. Either way, the dentist gets plenty of repeat business and most people are totally unaware of their ability to deal with their teeth themselves.

dentistdownunder Sep 10th, 2006 at 1:47 pm

Ban Fillings,

You obviously live in the last century. Nowadays we prefer preventive dentistry to restorative. If I don’t have to drill I wouldn’t. Like I kept saying, early decay is REVERSIBLE, provided it’s detected in the early stage, that’s why it’s important to have regular check up, unless you can cut out the carbohydrate from your diet no matter how many times you brush you still have the risk of getting decay but it’s your choice nobody is forcing you to see the dentist. If you let your car get to the stage of rusting you obviously never take good care of it, just like your teeth they need regular maintenance.
I’ve left holes unfilled several times, provided it’s not decay and the patient can keep it very clean you don’t have to fill it. The filling is only there to prevent the tooth from getting decay again, as it’s very difficult to keep clean when you’ve a hole in your tooth. If you don’t want it filled it’s fine by me it’s your tooth not mine. What I don’t understand is that why do ppl think that fillings should last forever? Your car doesn’t last forever so why should you expect a filling to last forever. When you have a heart attack you don’t expect the cardiologist to fix your heart back to what it used to be, so why do you bash the dentist when a dental treatment doesn’t restore your tooth to what it used to be? Weird.
Please do more research before you make any untrue statements. Human beings had been practicing dentistry for thousands of years. Archaeologists studying the remains of two men from Mehrgarh, Pakistan, made the discovery that the people of Indus Valley Civilization, even from the early Harappan periods (c. 3300 BC), had knowledge of medicine and dentistry. The physical anthropologist that carried out the examinations, Professor Andrea Cucina from the University of Missouri-Columbia, made the discovery when he was cleaning the teeth from one of the men. Later research in the same area found evidence of teeth having been drilled, dating back 9,000 years. Check out the news on the BBC website http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4882968.stm
Ancient Chinese medical works also discussed dental and gum diseases in their oldest medical book written by Huang Ti about 2500B.C., one whole chapter was devoted to dental and gum diseases and the treatment of this conditions.
Hammurabi’s Code created around 1780B.C. had several references to dental procedures and fees.
The Edwin Smith Papyrus (dates as early as 3000 B.C.) and Ebers Papyrus from about 1550 B.C. also discussed several dental diseases. Numerous papyri enumerate prescriptions to dental diseases, such as pyorrhea, loose teeth, dental caries and abscesses. Surgically produced holes to drain an abscess under the 1st molar were found in the mandible of a 4th dynasty mummy (2625 - 2510 BC). A loose tooth fixed with a gold wire bridge to a neighboring sound tooth was discovered in another mummy of the same dynasty in Giza. Artificial teeth holding a maxillary bridge by a silver wire was also found in the late period (Greco-Roman). Tooth extraction, treatment of mouth ulcers and treatment of jaw dislocation were also dealt with in the Edwin Smith and Ebers Papyri.
I can go on and on with more examples but I’ll just leave it at that.
So the dental profession has only been around for a century or so? I don’t think so. You are probably living in a cave or your English is so bad you don’t know the defination of “a century”.
I don’t advocate Hollywood straight, bleached teeth. In fact I always try to convince my patients they’ve beautiful teeth whenever they want me to bleach them or straighten them. Teeth are naturally yellow, I won’t bleach my own teeth so I won’t bleach others either. If you want to blame someone, blame the media. There is only supply when there is demand, if ppl never ask for “blinding white” teeth I doubt any dentist would be doing it.
Tooth is drilled to remove decay, if you have a better way of removing it please let me know. Pain would disappear when the nerve dies, but the infection is still there, that’s why ppl end up in the emergency department dying from an ignored dental infection. They think once the pain is gone the tooth is getting better, but as long as the decay is still there it will eventually blow up, the pain will return, often 10 times worse, and if you are the unlucky one, die from a simple tooth decay. If you want to yank your tooth out just because of decay by all mean go ahead, God obviously put your teeth there for a reason but like I said before, it’s your teeth not mine, do whatever you want with them, that’s what I always tell my patients, just don’t come back to me to complain later down the track. :)

I'm still waiting for Ban Filling's reply. He probably went into hiding because he had ran out of shit to rebut me. Ha.

Dentist 1. Stupid ppl 0.



19 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

yeah... he may be stupid but you don't sound very compassionate. Everyone hates going to the dentist. Dentists suck. So let's just try to make people feel better when they're sitting in the torture chair. And you talk about prevention which sounds really good to me, but some people do all they can do and still have cavities. So let's just be nice to the commoners.

14/10/06 12:59 am  
Blogger Dentist Down Under said...

Not compassionate? You don't know me so don't judge me. If you have regular check up it will not hurt. I never have any pain when I go to the dentist and I'd been going to the dentist since I had my first tooth. It's only painful when you wait too long before seeking treatment. When the decay is too deep there's nothing we can do except to numb you up, hence the needle, and when you have abscess the anaesthetic doesn't work, hence the pain. Is this the dentist's fault? Of course not. It's your own fault so why blame us. When are ppl going to start being responsible for their own health instead of blaming the dentist for the pain they brought upon themselves? Early decay doesn't hurt and you don't even need the needle. So if you think the dental chair is a torture chair, you brought it upon yourself and do not deserve my sympathy.

14/10/06 1:08 am  
Blogger Dentist Down Under said...

Why should I be nice to ppl who always blame us for their own problem? DUH! The bible says an eye for an eye. If you say you hate me why should I be nice to you?

14/10/06 1:10 am  
Blogger Donncha said...

Hey :)

I knew a guy a few years ago who never went to the dentist. In his mid-twenties he hadn't been in over 10 years. He had nice bright teeth but I'd hate to see what his teeth were like under close examination. I've lost touch with him since, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear that he'd lost a few teeth...

Donncha

14/10/06 1:50 am  
Blogger Dentist Down Under said...

Donncha,

My friend hadn't been to the dentist for 12 yrs until he joined the army. He doesn't have any decay and has no filling. The only explaination I've is that he has very good oral hygiene and he has a high protein almost no carb diet. I think I have mentioned in your blog, if you can cut out the carbohydrate in your diet you can probably get away with going to the dentist and has no problem.



Another note to anonymous,

If ppl do all they can and still have cavities, they are either:
1) doing it wrongly or
2) they are lying

14/10/06 2:09 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good work with the arguments. I bet anonymous is the same person that you were arguing with.

This kind of blind belief in a fallacy and the resulting state of chosen ignorance is something that used to really work me up. It's not just patients that I sometimes see it in, but also some dentists.

Now, I just shake my head and briefly vent to my wife or staff. There's nothing else I can do. People will believe whatever they want to believe and develop systems to reinforce those beliefs.

I'm sure I've got some quacky traits that others see in me. Live and let live, I say. That way when people try to wind you up, it won't work.

14/10/06 4:13 am  
Blogger Dentist Down Under said...

Hi ameloblast,

Thanks for the support. I can't help it I just have to rant and whinge if not I might explode and get out that hammer, I can't stand ppl with zero dental IQ and blame us for their problems. Hmph. I suppose it's because I'm still young and haven't been working long and think I can change the world. Ask me 10 yrs down the track I probably don't give a shit.

14/10/06 12:22 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ooey gal, calm down.

but i definitely do understand where you are coming from.
we get heaps of these during our career lives.

they just think we are blood suckers and dump us a whole lot of bullshit, pretending they know everything.

" NO AMALGAMS! IT'S TOXIC"

And where to they get the crap from?
Naturopaths and herbalists or whatever they are.

So before someone wants to dump some stupid theory to the dentists, please have something to back you up.
If not then don't think that we are arseholes who just wasted 5 years of hardwork, sweat, tears and blood, just for the sake of torturing people and earning extra money.

15/10/06 6:32 am  
Blogger Lady_T said...

Why do people hate dentists' anyway? I guess people just enjoy blaming others for their mistakes.

Dentist I also completely understand the urge to rant!

16/10/06 11:15 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There are sure some stupid people out there who listen to any bit of crap on the internet. The reason they hate the dentist is because they followed stupid instructions from those naturopaths and sluggishly seek proper help from dentist when the pain is unbearable. so the only thing the dentist can do is a massive filling, root canal or rip out that tooth that the stupid person has allowed to rot in his/her stupid head...
Oh...why people dont have such problems centuries ago? it's because there isnt even enough to eat to stay alive let alone eating luxuries with tons of sugar that causes decay.
One more thing, why do dentists advocate regular checkups when they can earn more with one massive filling or root canal? It's not about money making, it's about keeping the teeth in your mouth so you can talk and complain about poor dentists who are only trying to provide best oral care for ppl.

19/10/06 8:00 pm  
Blogger Flatfeet said...

Dear Mr or Miss Anonymous,

I know DDU in person and she IS certainly a compassionate person.
Who are u to judge DDU whether she should be like this or like that
For pete's sake,you sound as if you acting like her mummy (or rather Mrs DDU ).

Maybe you should be the one getting the cavities, then we shall assess and see if there is a need to throw in some compassion on you.

Wake up your idea dude. Out of kindness, I advise you to go get a life.

21/10/06 1:02 am  
Blogger Dr. Mommy, D.D.S. said...

whoa, i disappear for a few weeks and this is what i come back to!

right on, DDU. people are so full of shit it's just mind boggling. what this person also failed to mention and most people fail to realize is that about half of the "fillings" (silver or composite resin) that are done are WAY to large for a tooth that should really be crowned anyway. but NOOOOOO insurance won't pay for it or it's-too-expensive-why-do-dentists-always-want-to-take-your-money or whatever, so they say, oh, just fill it and i'll wait, and no matter how you insert those disclaimers on how it WON'T last, they still get pissed at you when the tooth snaps BELOW the gumline or right down the middle, and hey, guess what, now it needs endo/crown lengthening/or, oops, extraction! and these are the same people who say, "take it out, just give me a denture" and are in your office every five minutes to adjust said denture. and btw, dentures cost just as much as a crown does but don't fit as well, dumbass!

whew! i dealt with a couple of "wholistic" patients back in new york who said that their silver fillings were causing all sorts of mental (ya think?!) and physical problems. i even had an obese man who said, "yeah, i want to take the mercury out because i'm out of breath while running up the stairs." i'm not kidding...

i'm right behind you, DDU! luckily, like ameloblast, my sig other is in the dental profession as well so we vent all the time about stupid, ignorant things that are circulating amongst the populace.

and note to "anonymous": if you walk into a dentist's office with the attitude that "dentists suck" it will be virtually impossible for you to have an even remotely positive experience and both you and the treating dentist will be miserable. it's called a self-fulfilled prophecy. oh, and there is a rather significant psychological component to achieving profound dental anesthesia, or any anesthesia for that matter, so good luck with that one...

24/10/06 11:24 pm  
Blogger Dr. Mommy, D.D.S. said...

oh, and i have to add for people who say we're in it for the money: sometimes the money is simply not worth all the grief from you people!!!

(can ya tell i'm having a bad day???)

24/10/06 11:27 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well done dentist down under, if your intention was to sound like an obnoxious child then mission truly accomplished.

"Why do ppl wait so long before seeking treatment??? Serve you right haha"

Posted on a page full of people who are obviously suffering extreme pain, masterstroke. Wow. The often misunderstood profession of dentistry is much the richer now it has you as a mouthpiece. Ridiculous.

By the way, ppl? What is this, a text message?

31/10/06 1:02 am  
Blogger Dr. Mommy, D.D.S. said...

a note for anonymous:
this is dentist down under's page, and she can vent however she feels in whatever manner she chooses.

i'm assuming that you yourself are not a dentist, so i won't expect you to even remotely comprehend how difficult our job is at times. people, like yourself, who come in with negative preconceptions about how their experience is going to be and/or how i am going to treat them because of hearsay from friends and colleagues, what have you (from people like yourself, i again am assuming). and it's extremely frustrating when people who obviously don't take an active role in their health care come in, expect things to be perfect when guess what, i'm human, too, and this problem took so long to occur and went unchecked or ignored. how am i possiblbly going to fix this in a way you deem acceptable? how can i live up to your expectations when they are already surrounded by such negativity?

do you love your job all the time? is every day that you go to work and do what you do a sheer delight, so much that you never complain about your job to your spouse/friends/family/pets/whatever? do you always feel appreciated at work and never feel the need to vent in your own way to someone, or a community of individuals that sympathizes and hey, might get a bit of a laugh at your stories? are all the people you deal with on a daily basis grateful, appreciative of your services, motivated and co-operative in taking an active role heeding the advice you give them which is always in their best interests? if so, i'd love to have your job!

you know, i love being a dentist and i feel safe enough to say that DDU does as well. but when i hear people like yourself coming along, passing judgement and spouting god knows what from god knows where, uneducated, uninformed, and ignorant drivel, it literally ruins my day. and i vent about it on my own site, feel free to visit any time. i can tell you something for sure - if i didn't vent, in my own way however much of a rant it may sound like at times, mine and my patients' experiences would be a lot less pleasant.

so enough of the smack talk, read up, have a laugh, and you might actually learn something....

31/10/06 9:54 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You're quite right Dr. Mommy, of course the way to disprove people's negative attitude towards dentistry is by openly mocking those most in need of help. I can feel my outlook growing more positive by the minute!

Let's just ignore the fact that most of the people on that blog already have appointments booked or are suffering from post-treatment pain and are simply trying to find a way to ease their suffering. What fools! Haha!

You are indeed correct that I am not a dentist, although surely being professional and polite isn't beyond the realms of my layman understanding?

I'm sorry if my "uneducated, uninformed, and ignorant drivel" has ruined your day. Where do people get these bad ideas about dentists from?! I guess we'll never know.

31/10/06 8:57 pm  
Blogger Dr. Mommy, D.D.S. said...

anonymous,
thank you for responding to my comment. if you read closely at her post (and the comment thread at that site) DDU was not mocking those poor souls in pain who were seeking advice, she was specifically addressing and responding to the, yes, VERY ignorant and uneducated nonsense that particular commentor left behind. whoever says that "the body can heal itself", esp regarding a dental infection, with such certainty obviously has no basic knowledge of head and neck anatomy (teeth are in my head and are close to my brain, therefore, an untreated infection MAY be able to travel to my brain from my teeth) nor have they read the newspapers and/or heard the stories of numerous cases in which people have died from dental infections (there was just one in my hometown last year, a 13 year old boy). i think that would classify as ignorant and uninformed, don't you think? oh, and where are the evidence-based, peer reviewed and relevant clinical studies linking the "toxic mercury fillings" this person was reffering to to physical ailments such as MS or asthma, etc? i don't see any literature or valid documentation about such claims.

and i'm sorry if DDU's approach may come across as matter-of-fact, but again, look at the comment thread, how many people were trying to alleviate the pain to simply avoid going to the dentist, finding round about ways to treat themselves, and then mr. anonymous commentor comes along and spouts that nonsense about avoiding the one thing that can actually help them. absolutely ridiculous advice that could, in fact, kill someone who was mis-informed (and phobic) enough to believe it. well, i'm sorry if i don't sugar coat life-threatening situtations like that, but if after hearing and seeing all that is out there, can you blame us for being a wee bit frustrated? it's like banging my head against a brick wall sometimes...

1/11/06 5:02 pm  
Blogger Flatfeet said...

YOU GO super dental mommy!

1/11/06 11:42 pm  
Blogger Unknown said...

I love dentists, I just hate that the ones in the U.S.A. do not accept Medicare. :( Makes it hard for those on Disability to get help, because it's hard to find any that will work out a payment plan. I'm still calling around though, and with any luck I'll find one soon.

5/1/10 4:57 pm  

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