Ohio College of Dental Surgery - Alethian Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

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yell the moment the dentist reaches for his forceps In such cases he adopts a surprised air and assures the patient that he is not ready to commence. They quiet down and he starts what he asserts is an examination of the tooth. Suddenly the calm of the patient resolves into an agency of real suffering, surprise and anger. The forceps sink under the tooth and the tooth comes out, accompanied by a magnificent yell. Some persons grab the dentist's arm, and not a few try to bite his hand, an operation which is often successful. Then there is the local patient, who calmly designates the tooth, opens his or her mouth and sits still. They grasp the arms of the chair, tighten the neck muscles and when the pull comes it is met with a resistance that 7t means just as near a painless extraction as it is possible to produce without gas. The filling of teeth, however, furnishes the real test, if the patient happens to have some sensitive teeth. Every turn of the drill seems to sink to the very nerve centers. The drills get heated and the agony increases. It apparently grows bigger with each turn. Wlieii his subject sits back in the chair and bears the wear and tear of the drill upon teeth the doctor knows only too well are in the sensitive class, without complaint, he is given in full measure the respect and admiration of the dentist, who knows just how it feels, even if he donlt seem to appreciate the extent of his and his instruments, ability to torture. El XX-, 1 c.,s,wgaJ!- THX! I fe 'Gi 'sy II3

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They will deal out neighborhood gossip and pour their domestic troubles into the willing ear of the dentist. Wlieii he wishes to express surprise, or satisfaction, or anger, he usually fails to use his tongue, which is not rubber restricted, but makes the expression felt through the agency of his instruments. A little dig at just the right point acts as a first-class punctuation to a patient's tiresome sentence and the dentist can make exclamation points and pauses and periods that are not found in the type case by the judicious prods of his in- struments. If a dentist's patient has the smallest kind of an in- quisitive bump in his make up, it is bound to assert itself in a pronounced degree when he gets into the chair. He wants to know what each tool is called, what it is used for, how much it costs and how long it wears, and even insists on examining it carefully before it is used. He paws over the drills and chisels on the table and inquires about the contents of the battle. He is bound to reach out and finger with the mechanism of the automatically sprinkled cuspidor. i The gas generator is another unfailing mark for the attentions of the inquisitive patient and dentists say that many persons with grit and'nerve enough to sit down and have a tooth extracted without the use of anaes- thetics, will call for an administration of gas just to see what it's like. If they happen to come direct to the dentist's from the breakfast or dinner table, as they often do, the experience is one that they seldom care to duplicate. The so-called laughing gas has a deteri- II2 orating effect upon a partly digested meal which is not unlike a well developed case of seasickness. The title given the vapor administered by dentists is in many cases not appropriate 'LLaughing gas it certainly is on some occasions, and the patient, while the block of wood holds open their jaws and even While the dentist is feeling among the roots of the tooth with the prongs of his forceps, will tear out peal after peal of laughter that would be a credit to the inmates of certain institutions Laughing gas H certainly brings out the disposition of the patient, and it sometimes exposes a low moral condition. It is not unusual for a well bred ap- pearing woman, wearing tasteful and expensive clothing, to yell out oath after oath, when she is under the in- fluence of the gas. Others scream and a good majority groan in a manner that strikes terror to the.heart of the patients gathered in the waiting room for their call to the inquisition. Gas, however, is not so generally used as of old. Hypodermic injections of the other and more modern forms of anaesthetics are coming into general adoption, These are purely local applications and are not intended The nerves in the to render the patient unconscious. vicinity of the tooth to be pulled are deadened by the action of the chemical and the pain is greatly minimized. Dentists all agree that there are no two persons alike in the matter of extracting teeth. They claim that most of the patients are more frightened than hurt and that the anticipation of the event of the loss of a tooth is more terrible than the actual ordeal. Often the patients

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.. THE DENTIST .. Wlio opens your mouth like a mammoth cave And plows your gums with a barrel stave And prods your tongue when it won't behave? The dentist. YVho stuffs your mouth with a bitter rag And stops your wind with a rubber gag And straps your head like a vicious nag? The dentist. XV ho finds decays where your teeth are sound And probes you deep in his glee to wound And leaps for joy when the nerve is found ? Tl1e dentist. VVho runs his drills with a wicked glee And shoves as none can shove but he And smiles as bland as a bad Chinee ' The dentist. W'ho twists your teeth in an iron pry And carves your gums like a steak to fry And grinds you up till you nearly die? The dentist. l , 1 II x Wlio loves to look on his forceps cold And grins as the cursed things take hold And jerks in a way that can't be told? The dentist. Wlio lays before you a hundred steels Vfith hooks and points that the patient feels At one brief glance from head to heels? The dentist. Who drops you down in his easy chair- To relieve your mind talks in an easy air- Then stabs you quick till it raises your hair? The dentist. VVho loves to have your free good will Before he feels brave to present his bill, The amount of which will surely kill? The dentist.