The American Way of Dentistry

That was no favor to me for that dentist did not believe in novocaine; and my parents did not believe in fluoride (they thought it was a communist plot). My reaction to his loud and slow dental drill leaves little wonder as to why that dentist did not like screaming kids. As a result, I never smile. I grin.

At 18 I had my first root canal. A slip of the endodontist’s drill popped its tip out my cheek below my eye socket. For that I was drugged so didn’t feel the pain. But I spent weeks after battling the severe infection that resulted. I was too young and dumb to even contemplate a lawsuit. If I had it to do over…

That’s all nothing compared to what June Thomas describes in the story of my teeth, the first in what will be her seven part series on The American Way of Dentistry. June was raised in the industrial north of England where “perfect teeth were seen as a bit of an affectation” and “everyone in my family, and every other adult that I grew up around, had false teeth by the time they were 30.”

I started her series at part 5, Why Poor Folks Are Short on Teeth:

So far, I’ve focused on the 152 million Americans with dental benefits. That ignores the 21 million enrolled in public programs (mostly Medicaid) and the 130 million—43 percent of the population—without any kind of coverage. American dentists provide outstanding care to the people who can afford it, but they are failing the other half of the nation that can’t. [...]

If you have no money and your appendix bursts, you can walk into a hospital emergency room. If you have no money and your teeth hurt like a son of a bitch, you can walk into a hospital emergency room, but it won’t do you much good. According to a 2003 study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, an average of 738,000 people visit an emergency department for tooth pain or injury each year. In Washington’s King County, which includes the city of Seattle, dental issues represent three of the top 10 factors driving uninsured patients to the ER. The problem is, most hospital emergency rooms have no real way to treat dental problems. They can provide pain medicine and perhaps an antibiotic for the infection—but after that, they can do little more than offer a list of dentists who might be willing to treat the diseased teeth.

My parents weren’t especially poor but my lineage was and my brother, a junk man, most definitely is. My nephew reports that his parents did teach him to brush and he smiles broadly — despite the reality of issues with his teeth. I’m proud of him.

Together we watched his father, my brother, let his teeth rot until today there is only exposed, worn tips of dead tooth roots where his smile once was. He gums his food, no longer tormented by what once was the excruciating pain of eating.

This morning I sent my nephew a link to the series. I recommend it. Highly. And don’t miss the painful history of dentists in the movies.