Posted on 08/21/2007 5:22:27 PM PDT by Coleus
Opening King Tut's tomb brought to light treasures and curses hidden for thousands of years. One of the lat ter still haunts us -- the curse of King Tut's tooth. Tut, like many teenagers, needed a tooth extraction, in his case, an impacted wisdom tooth. Sadly, ancient Egyptian dentistry was unable to help the boy-pharaoh, as extractions were done only on very loose teeth, by the gentle touch of fingers. Even forceps (pliers) were probably not employed until long after Tut died. Astonishingly, modern dental extraction procedures are still mired in the technology of the an cient world. Recently, I was struck by the curse of Tut. I needed a tooth removed. Having taken lidocaine, I was fully conscious during the brutal and traumatic removal process. I became a time traveler, passing through star gates and winding up in ancient Egypt. Pliers still pull teeth!
In this age of high technology, what, if anything, is being done to modernize the practice of tooth ex traction? For scientists, inventors or entrepreneurs who would bring tooth extraction into the 21st century, there awaits a fortune aptly described as the Treasure of King Tut's Tooth. I sought those adventurers exploring the frontiers of knowledge to learn if the curse of Tut could be expiated.
I first ventured to the promising field of biomedical engineering, contacting Professor Arthur Ritter, director of the Stevens Institute of Technology biomedical engineering program. Numerous dentists had told me disconcerting tales of hav ing to place a knee on a patient's chest to gain sufficient leverage and force to perform a recalcitrant extraction. So Ritter and I discussed robotic extractors. Could we develop a machine with suffi cient power and torque forces to perform difficult tooth removals?
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
I had an expierience exactly like yours at the dentists. He pulled 4 teeth like that. 15 shots in the mouth did absolutely nothing to ease the pain. I haven’t been back to a dentist since.
I gave birth to 4 children and I would rather give birth to 4 more than go through the expierience I had at that dentists office.
Since I have a heart murmur I need to take meds prior to prevent infections entering the heart.
The first 4 extractions were not bad, but that last bugger must have had roots a mile long. After about an hour (actually it was only about 15 minutes but it felt like an hour,) the last molar came out.
It has been a week now and I still have some swelling and pain.
The navy took four of my wisdom teeth out at once. They were all perfect. They didn’t want me to have problems on a boomer patrol.
I should never have complained to the “doc” about a toothache.
At least I got out of “scrub the sub!”
You asked for it... Actually, mine (I had all 4 done at the same time by an oral surgeon, under general anesthetic. However they were severely impacted, and my right upper had roots that had grown into my sinus cavity. It took nearly 4 hours for them to get all 4 out.
While everything seemed to go well, I was given the normal instructions... No brushing of the teeth for a few days, no "swishing" liquids in the mouth, no using straws, AND NO NUTS IN FOOD!!!!
Well a few days later when the surgeon said I could brush my teeth, I completed the task, and as I was beginning my rinse, bloody, toothpastey water came gushing out of my nostrils! It sort of freaked me out, because the surgeon DID NOT TELL ME ABOUT THE HOLE BETWEEN MY MOUTH AND SINUSES!!!!! It was another week before I could try brushing my teeth again, and that seemed to give it enough time to close over and begin healing.
A few weeks later, I was at work, and someone brought in some home made brownies... I asked her about them, and she said that there were NO NUTS in them. So I had one... AND IT HAD NUTS!!! Of course, your sockets are nut magnets, and after just three or four chews, I had nuts stuck in all 4 sockets! OUCH!!! I had this little syringe for keeping them clean, but it didn't help. Luckily the oral surgeon's office was just a mile or two away, and I jumped in my car, ran over to the office, and ran in, asking for help. One of the nurses there took me back and removed the nuts from my sockets. And they didn't even charge me!
Mark
I've had no problems with my wisdom teeth. They're below the gums, right where they've always been. As long as they don't get impacted or infected, I'm inclined to leave them be.
I'm 37. If they ain't come in, they ain't comin' in.
Nothing! Fortunately my neighbor was able to wedge a pair of vice grips into my mouth and that took care of it........
About three months ago, all the local valley news outlets came out with the flash that this dentist had been convicted under courts martial a few years ago....while stationed at Camp Pendleton, he was doing that online-chase-14 year old girls-thingie, spent two years at Leavenworth, and the California Dental Board was yanking his license.
We're now a month overdue for cleaning, and in the process of narrowing our search.
How do I know this? Simple. I played lacrosse in college, and had to have my ankles and knees taped. Even with shaving, yanking that tape off really hurt. I have no doubt what so ever, that a "bikini wax" would have killed me. And I have an extremely high tolerance for pain (I didn't miss a day of work when I came down with Shingles, and had neuropothy for nearly 9 months afterwards.)
Mark
I was wide awake.
Had one shot of something in the gums and he grabbed ‘em like an 1850s dentist with a pair of tongs and twisted and yanked.
Didn’t really hurt. The issue was the little pits in my mouth for the next couple months. Had dragon breath for the first few weeks and my GF(this was 20+ years ago) refused to kiss me. I worked HARD to keep it clean, brushed and picked like a maniac 5-6 times a day..didn’t help keep the rotting food outta there.
I pulled the last six problem teeth myself.The top three on the right,three in the front.I could not afford the Dentist so I sent a friend to the hardware store to by a pair of bent shaped visegrips.[twelve dollars and ninety five cents.]The hardest part was adjusting them so when the clamp bit down,there was no sharp pain.Yes it was painful,but the top one on the upper side all the way back took three days.And pain was severe.I remember it was around five o clock in the morning and I was WIDE awake when I turned the vicegrips the opposite way.When I did that,the tooth slid out smooth as butter.Come to find out,the roots had grown in a curved way that looked like hooks.I kept all the teeth I pulled and have them in an old silk money changer purse.They were not rotten,they just came loose.
It’s called Versed.
A little shot and the next thing you know, the procedure is over. All of the blood, grinding and trauma never to be remembered.
Those were Sailors my friend.
I was a Sailor attached to the Marines when I innocently went to the base dentist. He told me I had a problem. I asked what, he said that I had wisdom teeth and that I was not authorized to have them.
A quick IV, some medicine and I woke up with my authorized number of teeth. No muss, no fuss.
Midazolam.........I’ve administered gallons of the stuff. Great stuff too!!!
well, I gave birth to a ten pound kid with no anesthesia so maybe that’s a similar experience.
ok, that’s the weirdest story on the thread if, in fact, it’s true.
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