Weekend Plans Post: Advancements In Dentistry

Jaybird

Jaybird is Birdmojo on Xbox Live and Jaybirdmojo on Playstation's network. He's been playing consoles since the Atari 2600 and it was Zork that taught him how to touch-type. If you've got a song for Wednesday, a commercial for Saturday, a recommendation for Tuesday, an essay for Monday, or, heck, just a handful a questions, fire off an email to AskJaybird-at-gmail.com

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17 Responses

  1. fillyjonk says:

    Yeah, I never got why they take your bp at the dentist. Maybe some people don’t go to the doctor regularly? Though I also remember a doctor’s appointment YEARS ago where the doc (an allergist) was running over an hour late, and I spent that time in a waiting room where someone was letting their two small children run and scream and when the nurse FINALLY took me in, she was like “huh, your blood pressure is elevated” and I was like OH NO FREAKING FAKE?

    That said – some years later I did develop genuine hypertension; everyone with my dad’s family genes does eventually, I guess. I watch my salt intake and take a pill every day and now it reads normal most of the time.

    I got something like your plastic jellyfish the last time I went for a checkup at the dentist. I’m a tartar hyperaccumulator so they have to scale the hell out of my teeth every time. The rubber jellyfish is gross and is just another reason I will be happy when the pandemic ends. I hope once it does I can refuse the jellyfish. Or at least that the hygienists have got more used to using it; I got the feeling the person working on me was still adjusting to it plus all the extra PPE gear she had to wear.Report

  2. Michael Cain says:

    Nurses taking my blood pressure often reference the “white lab coat” effect increasing people’s BP by about ten points. I would expect an even larger dentist effect. Few of my visits to the doctor’s office involve having anything unpleasant done to me. Every single trip to the dentist is at least unpleasant and often worse.

    Most of the anesthetics used for dental procedures can cause a temporary increase in blood pressure. If you’re already running almost 160/100, they’re not going to want to give you a BP-increasing anesthetic.Report

  3. Brandon Berg says:

    Years ago, I applied for long-term care insurance. As part of the application process, I had to do an interview at my home to prove that I wasn’t already severely disabled. This involved a blood pressure check. The representative from the insurance company had left her sphygmomanometer in her car, so she ran out to get it.

    For some reason I decided that this would be a good opportunity to get in some exercise, so I grabbed the barbell I kept in my living room and knocked off a few sets of military presses while I waited.

    Fun fact: Heavy resistance exercise temporarily raises blood pressure. She gave me a very concerned look after she took the measurement. Fortunately I was able to convince her to take another measurement at the end of the interview and it was fine.

    I don’t think I’ve ever had a dentist take my blood pressure before, though, even when I had my wisdom teeth taken out.Report

  4. Marchmaine says:

    My wife has had to replace most of her fillings; she grew up in one of those new-fangled modern developments and went to one of those new-fangled dentists. Poly-resin things held in with polymers and rainbows.

    I have all my original fillings and went to one of those old-school neighborhood dentists. I assume Mercury is the key to long lasting fillings.Report

    • Fish in reply to Marchmaine says:

      Heh. I had fillings and bondings applied to my teenaged mouth by my very hometown and very German dentist that mostly lasted longer than my military career and well into my marriage. The bonding only failed due to some horseplay which included a simulated punch to the jaw which somehow managed to dislodge the bonding. I don’t know…we were all dumb airmen who were drinking.Report

  5. Fish says:

    The Isolite Dental Isolation System: I hate that thing because it directs the airflow over one of my crowned molars that is forever sensitive because my previous dentist screwed up the crown and I put up with it for years because didn’t realize that my mouth shouldn’t feel the way it did. You know how you just kind of incorporate low levels of constant discomfort into your life? Yeah, well, when I switched to my current dentist (she’s awesome!) she fixed it and I couldn’t believe how much better I felt but that tooth’s nerve Shall Never Forget.

    Also, concerning your elevated blood pressure at the dentist: A hundred years ago I went through Lamaze classes with my temporarily enlarged spouse and I tell you what…those breathing and tension-releasing techniques Lamaze teaches have a wide range of application, including while sitting in the chair at the dentist. I can feel myself tense up and I recover my breathing and release all the tension I’m holding in my body. When I do it right, it feels like I’m sinking into the chair.

    Edit to add: Oh, and blood pressure…mine’s always good, but I always have to ask because I cannot seem to internalize what the good numbers are.Report

    • DensityDuck in reply to Fish says:

      “I went through Lamaze classes with my temporarily enlarged spouse”

      I am amused by this description and will definitely be deploying it towards a family friend who is currently existing for two. I’m sure that she will find it entirely humorous and will not attempt to shove an entire watermelon up my nose.Report

  6. Pinky says:

    Trigger warning for grossness. I once had a casting done of my teeth which involved my mouth being loaded with plaster, including a piece that dislodged and hit the back of my throat triggering my gag reflex, resulting in the thing you would least like to have happen when you’ve got a mouth full of plaster.Report

    • Slade the Leveller in reply to Pinky says:

      This made my day, thanks for sharing.Report

    • fillyjonk in reply to Pinky says:

      Yeah, I went through the process of having a “night guard” made because I was grinding my teeth in my sleep. The process to make the impressions was not pleasant. The person doing it had me raise one leg up off the dental chair and focus on keeping it just barely elevated because I was gagging so badly and in her experience, distracting the person kept them from totally throwing up.

      It worked, but just barely.Report

    • Aaron David in reply to Pinky says:

      Back in the seventies/eighties, my brother had to have serious dental work done; jaw broken and pieces of his hip inserted, jaw wired shut, etc. So they took a plaster cast of his mouth, which sat on a bookshelf in his room for years, looking all the while like a hunters trophy of Sharkboy.Report

  7. Slade the Leveller says:

    I’ve got an Adirondack chair to finish, and I better get to it. All the pieces are cut, so I just need some gumption.

    The U.S. Open is being played this weekend, so it’s like 2nd Father’s Day.Report

  8. PROFESSOR ESPERANTO says:

    I was going to visit Edna for her birthday but that’s not working out.

    I’m paying a neighborhood kid to mow the lawn.

    Might drive to Egg Harbor Township to return a plate, but I need to put something on it when I return it. It may result in human contact. It may just be a self-imposed fetch quest.

    Later I’m going to bug someone and see if they’re around today after we’ve gone back and forth by text where I shared my haikus.Report

  9. I just now read this, Jaybird. I’ve been having fillings replaced over the last 6 weeks. Tomorrow, I hope, is the final replacement. (I say “I hope” because you never know if there’ll be another riot to close down the office or if my temperature inexplicably is above the 100.4 when I get there.)

    I don’t miss chewing gum because it’s not something I like. But I miss being able to eat more than just soft foods.

    This is all a very good problem to have, considering the fillings really needed replacement and considering our insurance covers most of it. But yeah, I feel you.Report

    • Jaybird in reply to Gabriel Conroy says:

      Good luck! (I honestly expected smokers to show up and tell smoking stories. “I met the VP of Marketing in the smokeshack and got a promotion a month later to a team he was over. Never would have happened under the current smokeless system. He’s dead now, bless him.”)Report

      • Gabriel Conroy in reply to Jaybird says:

        I count myself very, very fortunate that I never took up smoking. It’s not that I’m virtuous. In fact, I see the appeal. I just never fell into it. (I have other vices, though. The worst ones have to do with junk food. It’s probably not a coincidence that my teeth aren’t in the best of health.)Report