The Dentist

Wednesday I went to the dentist to get some work done that I was postponing till after the baby.

Now ordinarily I'd rate going to the dentist just above going to a proctologist on my fun-o-meter, but I really like Dr. Rust and his staff.  His receptionist and hygienists know the whole family by name and ask about each of the kids when they aren't with me.  (And they really like little kids too!)  Dr. Rust is a white-haired, twinkle eyed chap in his 80s, who loves to tease and joke.   Best of all, when he gets down to business, he is quick, does good work, and can give shots of lidocaine painlessly. It's nice too that his office always follows up the next day, to make sure everything feels alright afterward.

The tech and I were chatting for a bit and I mentioned how glad I was for modern dentistry.  "Can you imagine what it was like 150 years ago without anesthesia or refined tools?  Yikes."

The dental tech then said that they do have a few patients that decide to forgo any numbing agents.  The one patient that topped them all though was from his army days.

"Once we had this colonel come in for a root canal.  She didn't want any anesthesia at all.  She just opened her mouth wide and didn't move a muscle.  At first the dentist went slowly and kept asking her if she was okay.  After awhile he seemed to forget she didn't have anything for the pain and went about the procedure drilling  normally.  She didn't flinch once."  The tech said this last bit in awe.

We agreed that that was pretty hard core.



Now I have to find a new dentist in Austin.  Drat!