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Drilling Without Anesthetic (And With Pain)

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Steven L.

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Sep 5, 2008, 7:32:54 AM9/5/08
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I distinctly remember that when I was a child (before puberty), circa
1960, my dentist *never* gave me Novocaine or any sort of anesthetic
prior to starting the drilling. Instead, I just grabbed the arms of the
dental chair and hung on for dear life. When the drill would hit a
nerve, I would flinch but remain seated. My mom would be standing
behind me saying to me, "If you get out of that chair, I'll break your
arm!" So that's why I remained seated. At no time did either my mom or
my dentist discuss giving me any sort of anesthetic to numb the pain,
which was intense as the drill got close to a nerve.

I'm *NOT* making this up. This was the dentistry I received until the
1970s. When I got older and got a new dentist who gave me anesthetic, I
remember being amazed: Dentistry didn't have to be excruciatingly
painful after all! As a child, I had assumed that excruciating pain was
just the way dentistry was supposed to be.

Does any of this sound familiar to older folks here? Was anesthetic
only started in the 1960s, or did it exist before that? Did
old-fashioned dentists back then eschew anesthetic for their patients?

Anybody else here just forego anesthetic and accept the pain of drilling
as just part of the dentistry process?


--
Steven L.
Email: sdli...@earthlinkNOSPAM.net
Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.

kris-polanowski

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Sep 5, 2008, 7:52:29 AM9/5/08
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> Email:  sdlit...@earthlinkNOSPAM.net

> Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.

yep.
Some patients preffer drilling without anesthetic becouse they afraid
injection. We have many methods injection, local anesthetic,
different drilling methods, gas etc.
Everything depends on case, individual resistance and prefferencess.
regards kris Polanowski DDS

Steven Bornfeld

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Sep 5, 2008, 10:35:01 AM9/5/08
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Here's my take. I am 56 years old, and never had a local anesthetic
for any dental treatment until I was in my 20s. I did not have a great
number of cavities as a child, but I had some.
Having primary (baby) teeth drilled seems to provoke less pain than
permanent teeth, so I do not remember any problems (I may have never had
cavities on my primary teeth though). When I had my first fillings in
my permanent teeth at about 6 years old, the dentist worked very
quickly. I should add that I was very fearful of injections as a
child--there is a chance that this was communicated to the dentist by my
parents--I don't know.
When I was about 8, we started using the dentist I would go to until I
got out of dental school. He obviously had taken some psychology
course, because though he still didn't inject me, he told me to raise my
hand if it became painful. However, unlike my dental professors maybe
15 years later, he apparently was NOT told to stop drilling when I
reported pain.
So there I was, madly waving my arm in his face, while he would say
"juuuuust anooooother minuuuuuute!!!" with dust flying out of my mouth,
and my head plastered back against the headrest. I should point out
that I was not a dumb kid--he was giving me a (false) measure of control
with one hand and taking it away with the other.
By the time I'd graduated dental school (1976) I had a pretty good idea
of what was going on. The '60s were called the "golden years" of
dentistry because with the baby boomers in school and eating all that
sugar, there was lots of work to do. And of course, the emphasis on
infection control and sterility was not what it was now. Maybe even
more important, the parents of these kids had grown up in the
depression. Many of the older dentists had too, and I was told that if
a patient came in with $3. in their pocket and you did $5. worth of
dentistry, you would often never see the other $2. So in order to get
everyone in, many dentists would see 30, 40, even 50 patients a day. My
mother had told me that when she was young she never had a tooth drilled
and a permanent filling placed at the same visit. Lots of temporary
fillings were placed.
You can imagine in this kind of environment, the big disadvantage of
giving an injection was that you had to wait for it to take effect. Not
only that, but at the time many dentists were really using Novocain
(procaine), which was a really crummy anesthetic. If you were doing a
longer procedure you'd often have to re-inject a few times--it wore off
very quickly.
Now, I can't imagine seeing that number of patients in a day. With
anesthesia and sterility requirements, it would never get done. Not
only that, but making fewer, longer visits allows treatment to proceed
much more quickly and efficiently, and is far less stressful and
time-consuming--for both the patient and the dental staff.

Steve

Vaughn Simon

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Sep 5, 2008, 1:22:13 PM9/5/08
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"Steven L." <sdli...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:JtWdnSbDiap5hVzV...@earthlink.com...

> Does any of this sound familiar to older folks here?

For my very first dental experiences, I don't remember getting a shot, and I
don't remember NOT getting a shot; that was a long-long time ago. Even back
then, I understood that a trip to the dentist was not pleasent, but hurt a lot
less than a good toothache. The dental experience was considerably different
back then. I remember the days before my dentist had a turbine drill. There
was much more vibration as he worked, but also much less heating.

I also remember that my youngest brother was a very difficult patient. For
me, I don't remember my parents even being in the treatment room, but my
youngest brother had to be physically restrained so the dentist could work, a
job for my father. The whole family used the same general dentist, we had never
heard of pediatric dentists back then. My father used to take along a wooden
clothspin to jam between my brother's sharp little teeth to protect the
dentist's fingers!


--
Vaughn

........................................................
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.........................................................

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The Real Bev

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Sep 5, 2008, 9:14:53 PM9/5/08
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Steven L. wrote:

> I distinctly remember that when I was a child (before puberty), circa
> 1960, my dentist *never* gave me Novocaine or any sort of anesthetic

> prior to starting the drilling....


>
> I'm *NOT* making this up. This was the dentistry I received until the
> 1970s. When I got older and got a new dentist who gave me anesthetic, I
> remember being amazed: Dentistry didn't have to be excruciatingly
> painful after all! As a child, I had assumed that excruciating pain was
> just the way dentistry was supposed to be.

I think the guy was just a sadist. I started having fillings when I was
perhaps 7 or 8, maybe earlier. I remember the shots hurting a lot, and
at some point I asked for NO novocaine/lidocaine, but rapidly changed my
mind. That was during the late 40s or early 50s.

> Does any of this sound familiar to older folks here? Was anesthetic
> only started in the 1960s, or did it exist before that? Did
> old-fashioned dentists back then eschew anesthetic for their patients?
>
> Anybody else here just forego anesthetic and accept the pain of drilling
> as just part of the dentistry process?

Not unless they think they have something to prove. My teeth are
sensitive such that even ordinary cleaning is unpleasant. Not just
unpleasant, PAINFUL. And even if the nerve is effectively knocked out,
if the drilling goes on long enough the heat is painful.

--
Ch rs,
B v
=======================================
My f ck ng k yb rd h s l st ts v w ls.

Pat and Chris

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Sep 6, 2008, 10:27:13 AM9/6/08
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I'm in my late fifties, and went to our family dentist throughout childhood
and my college years. I remember having Novocain for extractions. Don't
remember whether my dentist administered it when he filled cavities, but do
remember that drilling was always *extremely* painful, and that he would
continue in spite of my protestations. Needless to say, I absolutely hated
and feared my dental appointments.

After college, I delayed going to any dentist again until I broke a tooth in
the mid-70's and had to seek out a new dentist for a crown. Low and behold,
he gave me Novocain, and the process was not at all painful. When I
expressed my amazement, he looked at me oddly and said "It doesn't have to
hurt. If you enjoyed having it hurt, you'd be pretty strange, wouldn't
you?".

Since then I've encountered one dentist whose procedures consistently caused
me pain. He claimed he was "unable to get me numb." Needless to say, I don't
go to him any more, and my current dentist has no problem working on me
without causing me pain.

Pat McC.


"Steven L." <sdli...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
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Bill

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Sep 8, 2008, 3:50:59 AM9/8/08
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I recall that question being answered when I was in dental school in
the late 1960s.

One professor had been a dentist in the Army during World War II. His
take on the anesthetic question was based on his personal experiences
right before and after the war. Before the war, anesthetic was
available, but during those Depression years many people had little
money to spend. People would often seek the cheapest possible
treatment, and anesthetic cost money, so they would do without.

Even during the Depression some people had money, so they would choose
to have the numbing effects of Novocain, but that was not a universal
practice.

This old professor's take was that when most of the dentists in the
country were drafted into the Army and Navy for the duration of the
war, they all had to learn to do things the same way (that's the armed
services for you). Their dental clinics provided anesthetic, so
anesthetic was used. Regulations were followed.

After the war, millions of servicemen had been treated painlessly by
dentists, so they expected that level of service. Of course not
everyone had been drafted, so a good portion of the population still
had dental treatment without anesthetic. It was mostly a matter of
habit.

But after a few years, the older dentists gradually retired -- and
their Depression-era habits retired with them. Many younger dentists
were former armed forces dentists who had the habit of using
anesthetic for most fillings, so they continued that practice into the
1950s and 1960s. As time went by, the use of anesthetic came to be
expected by the public and the profession both. At least, that was the
experience of that professor, who had practiced dentistry both before
and after the war.

By the time I was in dental school in the 1960's, there was no
question that anesthetic would be used routinely in dental treatment.

- dentaldoc

Message has been deleted

Bill

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Sep 9, 2008, 12:45:31 PM9/9/08
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On Sep 8, 8:49 pm, New...@bix.nex wrote:
> An interesting perspective. Thanks Bill.
>

You're welcome. I hope you get that anesthetic routinely now!
- dentaldoc


Dartos

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Sep 9, 2008, 1:53:25 PM9/9/08
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He gives it more than he gets it.

;-)
D

Message has been deleted

Stormin Mormon

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Nov 18, 2008, 8:53:09 AM11/18/08
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I remember my dentist, from back when. He'd inject, probably procaine.
However, especially with the lowers, it didn't seem to do much good. I'd
complain of the pain. He'd look confused and say "I can't imagine why you're
in pain. There is no nerve in that tooth." and go back to drilling. I'm some
what surprised I didn't load up on a half dozen asprin before dentistry.
Maybe I did, just can't remember.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.


"Steven L." <sdli...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
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margk...@hotmail.com

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Aug 16, 2015, 5:09:10 PM8/16/15
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I had the same experiences as a child in the 60s and 70s. Horribly painful and terrifying and no support from my parents at all. Dentists was a sadist.

Stormin Mormon

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Aug 17, 2015, 10:45:49 AM8/17/15
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On 8/16/2015 5:09 PM, margk...@hotmail.com wrote:
> I had the same experiences as a child in the 60s and 70s. Horribly painful and terrifying and no support from my parents at all. Dentists was a sadist.
>

Me, too. I can't comment on the dentist being a
sadist, he did load some Novocaine in. But from
what I can figure, he could not get the right
spot. It was miserable.

--
.
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
. www.lds.org
.
.

Steven Bornfeld

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Aug 17, 2015, 1:30:14 PM8/17/15
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On 8/16/2015 5:09 PM, margk...@hotmail.com wrote:
> I had the same experiences as a child in the 60s and 70s. Horribly painful and terrifying and no support

from my parents at all. Dentists was a sadist.
>


Dentists who trained before and after the war practiced very
differently. Many worked multiple chairs, and much higher volume than
what would be seen today.
If you gave an injection, then you'd have to wait for it to work, and
when you're seeing 50-60 or so patients a day, you can't do that.
Even my last regular dentist before I went to dental school (he
graduated in 1960) didn't inject me. Oh, he'd tell me to raise my hand
if I was in pain. So I raised my hand, and he kept drilling.
Certainly when I was in dental school in the '70s we used local anesthetic.
There's really no excuse for not using appropriate anesthesia. It helps
the patient, and helps the dentist too.
So some things (at least) have gotten better. There may still be some
dentists around not using anesthesia, but they're the exception, not the
rule.

Steve

Frank

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Aug 17, 2015, 3:23:41 PM8/17/15
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On 8/17/2015 10:45 AM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
> On 8/16/2015 5:09 PM, margk...@hotmail.com wrote:
>> I had the same experiences as a child in the 60s and 70s. Horribly
>> painful and terrifying and no support from my parents at all.
>> Dentists was a sadist.
>>
>
> Me, too. I can't comment on the dentist being a
> sadist, he did load some Novocaine in. But from
> what I can figure, he could not get the right
> spot. It was miserable.
>

You are too young to remember but I don't think that it was till around
the late 50's that high speed drills first came into use and anesthetic
became largely unnecessary. I prefer slight discomfort of the drill to
getting a needle in my gums. My wife is the opposite.

Steven Bornfeld

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Aug 17, 2015, 3:36:52 PM8/17/15
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You are right. The Borden Airotor was introduced in 1957, and was
rapidly adopted. In the 58 years since, the basic design is pretty much
the same.
I remember my dad's first visit to our new (vintage 1960) dentist, who
was fresh out of school. My dad said he had this new "water drill" that
"didn't hurt at all".
Most people today don't remember the old motorized drill on the pulleys
and trombone arm, and associate the whine of the turbine just as vividly
with pain. But anyone who went through that period with transition to
the turbine handpiece knows what an improvement it was.

Steve

JohnF

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Aug 18, 2015, 12:23:13 AM8/18/15
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Yeah, I went through that transition period when I was ~10yo.
Question: when my dentist first got the new Airotor (thanks for
the terminology), he'd use it for most of the drilling (and it
was indeed a big improvement), but he'd revert to the motorized
drill towards the end. As I recall, he explained it provided
finer control so he wouldn't drill beyond the decay. And he'd
use the drill for just a second, take a look, drill for another
second, etc, being very, very careful as far as I could tell.
Of course, nobody does that nowadays -- for one thing, nobody
(except maybe museums) has the motorized drill any longer.
Was he just insufficiently practiced with the Airotor (as everybody
must have been when it was first introduced), or would a slower
speed drill still provide some desirable finer-grained control?
If so, it seems like http://www.handpiece-turbines.com/ provides
enough variety so you could swap out turbines during a procedure
to get faster/slower speeds without losing torque.
Off-topic: while googling for some of the above info, I came
across wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_drill which has the interesting...
"The Indus Valley Civilization has yielded evidence of dentistry
being practiced as far back as 7000 BC. This earliest form of
dentistry involved curing tooth related disorders with bow drills
operated, perhaps, by skilled bead craftsmen."
--
John

Stormin Mormon

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Aug 18, 2015, 9:44:11 AM8/18/15
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On 8/17/2015 3:23 PM, Frank wrote:
My dentist did tell me that he was using the
new high speed drilling. The drill he was
using was plenty miserable. I sure wish he
did better job with the novocaine.

How do you know what I remember?

Stormin Mormon

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Aug 18, 2015, 9:45:55 AM8/18/15
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On 8/17/2015 3:36 PM, Steven Bornfeld wrote:
> You are right. The Borden Airotor was introduced in 1957, and was
> rapidly adopted. In the 58 years since, the basic design is pretty much
> the same.
> I remember my dad's first visit to our new (vintage 1960) dentist, who
> was fresh out of school. My dad said he had this new "water drill" that
> "didn't hurt at all".
> Most people today don't remember the old motorized drill on the pulleys
> and trombone arm, and associate the whine of the turbine just as vividly
> with pain. But anyone who went through that period with transition to
> the turbine handpiece knows what an improvement it was.
>
> Steve

My painful pediatric dentist used a drill
that had spring cables, pulleys, and pivots.

And, yes, it made distinctive noise.

Stormin Mormon

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Aug 18, 2015, 9:48:06 AM8/18/15
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On 8/18/2015 12:23 AM, JohnF wrote:
> Was he just insufficiently practiced with the Airotor (as everybody
> must have been when it was first introduced), or would a slower
> speed drill still provide some desirable finer-grained control?
> If so, it seems like http://www.handpiece-turbines.com/ provides
> enough variety so you could swap out turbines during a procedure
> to get faster/slower speeds without losing torque.

One of my dentists used slow speed to rough up
the surface, so the amalgam would have a surface
to atach. He'd also have to widen the base of the
filling "dovetail" kind of thing, because amalgam
was not adhesive like composite.

Steven Bornfeld

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Aug 18, 2015, 12:54:58 PM8/18/15
to
On 8/18/2015 12:23 AM, JohnF wrote:
>
> Yeah, I went through that transition period when I was ~10yo.
> Question: when my dentist first got the new Airotor (thanks for
> the terminology), he'd use it for most of the drilling (and it
> was indeed a big improvement), but he'd revert to the motorized
> drill towards the end. As I recall, he explained it provided
> finer control so he wouldn't drill beyond the decay. And he'd
> use the drill for just a second, take a look, drill for another
> second, etc, being very, very careful as far as I could tell.
> Of course, nobody does that nowadays -- for one thing, nobody
> (except maybe museums) has the motorized drill any longer.

Your dentist was right. The high-speed turbine drill will cut through
any tooth--decayed or sound. It is used to shape the tooth
appropriately to receive a filling.
We still use low-speed drills, and for the same reason your dentist
did--you can feel as you mill through the decay and reach sound dentin.
Most of these are not motorized, you are right. They are also
turbine-driven, but geared to a much lower speed.
Motorized drills ARE used--in surgical applications, and for endodontic
procedures.



> Was he just insufficiently practiced with the Airotor (as everybody
> must have been when it was first introduced), or would a slower
> speed drill still provide some desirable finer-grained control?
> If so, it seems like http://www.handpiece-turbines.com/ provides
> enough variety so you could swap out turbines during a procedure
> to get faster/slower speeds without losing torque.


High-speed drills (on the order of 200,000-300,000 rpm) don't need much
torque--just light pressure. And you don't get much torque--you could
easily hold a bur between your fingers while not moving and the turbine
could not make it move. The low-speed drills require (and have)
considerably more torque. But some of the old-timers still miss the old
pulley-and-trombone arm.

Steve

Steven Bornfeld

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Aug 18, 2015, 12:58:43 PM8/18/15
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On 8/18/2015 9:48 AM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
>
> One of my dentists used slow speed to rough up
> the surface, so the amalgam would have a surface
> to atach. He'd also have to widen the base of the
> filling "dovetail" kind of thing, because amalgam
> was not adhesive like composite.
>
> -
> .
> Christopher A. Young
> learn more about Jesus
> . www.lds.org
> .
> .

You don't need a rough surface for amalgam. You do however need to cut
undercuts and dovetails (the basic design for amalgam fillings was
systematized by G.V. Black in the 19th century. It was modified
somewhat after a greater understanding of tooth microanatomy. And then
most of those designs were thrown out when composite resin became popular.

Steve

Steven Bornfeld

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Aug 19, 2015, 4:58:24 PM8/19/15
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On 8/18/2015 12:23 AM, JohnF wrote:

(snip)

> Off-topic: while googling for some of the above info, I came
> across wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_drill which has the interesting...
> "The Indus Valley Civilization has yielded evidence of dentistry
> being practiced as far back as 7000 BC. This earliest form of
> dentistry involved curing tooth related disorders with bow drills
> operated, perhaps, by skilled bead craftsmen."
>

This from last month:

http://news.discovery.com/history/oldest-dentistry-found-in-14000-year-old-tooth-1507156.htm

JohnF

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Aug 20, 2015, 2:02:29 AM8/20/15
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Interesting. Thanks. I was going to ask you, re the wikipedia stuff,
how they filled teeth after drilling (which wasn't explained there),
but it seemed too off-topic. Your discovery.com stuff explains they
used beeswax (at least those guys did).
Also off-topic, I believe it's possible that you may now be able to
legitimately lay claim to the title of "world's oldest profession." :)
--
John Forkosh ( mailto: j...@f.com where j=john and f=forkosh )

Steven Bornfeld

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Aug 20, 2015, 10:37:44 AM8/20/15
to
Probably not. But our evidence is probably "harder" than that of the
other oldest profession.

Frank

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Aug 20, 2015, 8:07:47 PM8/20/15
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You were not around in the 50's and 60's unless, maybe in the boondocks
of NY they still used the old drills when you were around.

Steven Bornfeld

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Sep 21, 2015, 12:33:32 PM9/21/15
to
On 9/21/2015 10:33 AM, WB wrote:
> Remember the belt driven hand piece quite well...
>
> "Shut up kid, and hold still !"
>
> Gruff old Dr. Ritter...
>

Yes, all of us of "a certain age" had a Dr. Ritter.

Steve

Stormin Mormon

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Sep 22, 2015, 9:16:15 AM9/22/15
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"I can't imagine you having any pain. There is
no nerve in that tooth." --Dr. Kristal.


big...@gmail.com

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Nov 23, 2015, 12:15:41 PM11/23/15
to
On Friday, September 5, 2008 at 7:32:54 AM UTC-4, Steven L. wrote:
> I distinctly remember that when I was a child (before puberty), circa
> 1960, my dentist *never* gave me Novocaine or any sort of anesthetic
> prior to starting the drilling. Instead, I just grabbed the arms of the
> dental chair and hung on for dear life. When the drill would hit a
> nerve, I would flinch but remain seated. My mom would be standing
> behind me saying to me, "If you get out of that chair, I'll break your
> arm!" So that's why I remained seated. At no time did either my mom or
> my dentist discuss giving me any sort of anesthetic to numb the pain,
> which was intense as the drill got close to a nerve.
>
> I'm *NOT* making this up. This was the dentistry I received until the
> 1970s. When I got older and got a new dentist who gave me anesthetic, I
> remember being amazed: Dentistry didn't have to be excruciatingly
> painful after all! As a child, I had assumed that excruciating pain was
> just the way dentistry was supposed to be.
>
> Does any of this sound familiar to older folks here? Was anesthetic
> only started in the 1960s, or did it exist before that? Did
> old-fashioned dentists back then eschew anesthetic for their patients?
>
> Anybody else here just forego anesthetic and accept the pain of drilling
> as just part of the dentistry process?
>
>
> --
> Steven L.
> Email: sdli...@earthlinkNOSPAM.net
> Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.

My father was a dentist, 1928-50 and he and the other dentist in town had a running disagreement over the use of Novocaine. Dr. S, who had been a dentist during WW11 used it much more generously than my father. Both were using the motorized drills. My father who graduated from Dental School at Pitt, argued that since the drill heated up the tooth, a heavy handed dentist could kill the nerve of the tooth if it overheated and the patient was not aware of the "discomfort" ( note the avoidance of "pain"). Reading these comments about the military dentists explains these opposing view points to me better. The financial issue of pull the tooth vs fill the tooth may have come into play from the patients view point. I heard the "just pull it out and get rid of it, doc" but not the "too expensive to have filled", though, in retrospect only the shop owners and professional people got bridges and crowns. The miners and farmers opted for 'false teeth'. One old man brought in his wife's dentures after she died, complaining they wouldn't fit him, please fix them so he could use them."

Steven Bornfeld

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Nov 23, 2015, 2:50:11 PM11/23/15
to
Note that you're replying to a thread over 7 years old. It sounds
familiar, and I may have myself replied. I use a newsreader that
deletes posts after only a few months, and I have no patience for google
groups.
Note that Novocain (procaine) was a really poor anesthetic. I was
forced occasionally to use it (from multi-use vials) during my residency
(1976-77)--not for dentistry (we had good anesthetic in the clinic) but
for suturing facial lacerations in the ER when on call. If we took over
5 minutes to close a wound, we would have to re-inject.
I'm sure your father was right that a heavy hand could fry a pulp.
That's true today, if adequate coolant (water spray) isn't used with the
turbine handpiece. The critical thing was not to overheat the pulp,
which has a very limited ability to recover from inflammation.
In any case, I am not old enough to vouch for practice characteristics
before or during the war. I do know from my own dental experiences
growing up in the 1950s and 60s that dentists scheduled far more
patients per day than they do now. I've heard a few explanations for
why this was true, but to your point--if you are going to bother giving
an anesthetic, you certainly ought to wait for it to work. If you're
seeing 50-60 patients a day (unthinkable to me), you are not going to
have the time for anesthesia--unless you're bouncing from chair to chair
like in a Marx brothers movie--and then by the time you get back to the
patient the anesthetic wears off--because Novocain was crap.
My teeth weren't bad, although I had my share of cavities when I was a
kid. I didn't get an anesthetic for a filling until after I'd graduated
dental school. When I had x-rays taken of my teeth in school, my
brother and I had a good laugh--all the fillings were very shallow and
fragile. As they broke down one by one, my brother would replace
them--and he wasn't going to stop drilling (unlike my childhood
dentist)because I had pain. So he'd inject me.
Anesthetic not only made dentistry more pleasant (for patient AND
dentist)--it also made high-quality dentistry much easier to achieve.
That, AND the development of the turbine high-speed handpiece, which
was introduced about 1958.

Steve

jszaw...@comcast.net

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Jan 3, 2016, 11:33:20 AM1/3/16
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I experienced the same things. I was wondering if it existed too.i was always in excruciating pain. My dad thought it was funny song me squirm in the chair.

audition...@gmail.com

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Jan 27, 2016, 10:57:58 AM1/27/16
to
My experience EXACTLY. Told I was too young for the anesthetic. I've never quite gotten over my fear of the dentist.

kuany...@gmail.com

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Feb 12, 2016, 12:34:50 AM2/12/16
to
On Friday, September 5, 2008 at 4:32:54 AM UTC-7, Steven L. wrote:
> I distinctly remember that when I was a child (before puberty), circa
> 1960, my dentist *never* gave me Novocaine or any sort of anesthetic
> prior to starting the drilling. Instead, I just grabbed the arms of the
> dental chair and hung on for dear life. When the drill would hit a
> nerve, I would flinch but remain seated. My mom would be standing
> behind me saying to me, "If you get out of that chair, I'll break your
> arm!" So that's why I remained seated. At no time did either my mom or
> my dentist discuss giving me any sort of anesthetic to numb the pain,
> which was intense as the drill got close to a nerve.
>
> I'm *NOT* making this up. This was the dentistry I received until the
> 1970s. When I got older and got a new dentist who gave me anesthetic, I
> remember being amazed: Dentistry didn't have to be excruciatingly
> painful after all! As a child, I had assumed that excruciating pain was
> just the way dentistry was supposed to be.
>
> Does any of this sound familiar to older folks here? Was anesthetic
> only started in the 1960s, or did it exist before that? Did
> old-fashioned dentists back then eschew anesthetic for their patients?
>
> Anybody else here just forego anesthetic and accept the pain of drilling
> as just part of the dentistry process?
>
>
> --
> Steven L.
> Email: sdli...@earthlinkNOSPAM.net
> Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.

Steven,

I am a Dental Hygienist. When I first started practicing, 18 years ago, I noticed that some of my patients over 60 would get extremely anxious during their cleanings. After getting to know them I learned about these practices of not numbing children. In my opinion this was a very dark part of our history in dentistry. An entire generation of people experienced a form of PTSD because of this. I am so sorry this happened to you.

Sincerely,
Beth

lordn...@gmail.com

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Dec 3, 2017, 12:03:29 PM12/3/17
to
I had 8 fillings without anaesthetic between the ages of 10 and 11(1980/81) One of the fillings was in an unexposed tooth. A Wisdom tooth.
He had to slice the skin to reveal the tooth and then filled it.
My Mum had always made all of us brush our teeth after every meal, apart from overcrowding, I knew my teeth were good.
He was the School approved Dentist. Very recognisable White building, always with his White Rolls Royce, parked outside.
The fillings were done in two sessions. I remember the second time mostly, he had an assistant on either arm and one on my legs, whilst I gagged on my own spit with the smell of tooth dust clogging my nose.
My Dad wasn't allowed in the room. He was told I was trouble and it wouldn't take long.
There was also the occasion when they had to remove teeth because of overcrowding. The same amount of staff were present, afterwards we were told to leave through the back because I would distress the other people who were waiting.
We walked home, it was over a mile. I was still spitting huge globs of blood as we reached home.

I can't watch anything to do with teeth on TV or the sound of high pitched drills.

When I was 12 I smashed my front tooth in half on a climbing frame. I didn't get it sorted (false enamel cover) until I was 16.

Tonight, my 3 year old daughter asked me why I have 'black things' (fillings) on my teeth.
Ive thought about googling this often, I'm glad I did.
I've never spoke about it with people I know, so it's a relief on one hand and also a sharp rage that it was happening to others.
I'm 47. I haven't been to a dentist in 30 years.
I've lost fillings, I've got cracked Molars. I'm never going back to a Dentist.
Id rather top myself first. I know how ridiculous that sounds but I'm done with 'professionals'

susy...@gmail.com

unread,
Jan 9, 2018, 10:54:25 AM1/9/18
to
On Friday, September 5, 2008 at 7:32:54 AM UTC-4, Steven L. wrote:
> I distinctly remember that when I was a child (before puberty), circa
> 1960, my dentist *never* gave me Novocaine or any sort of anesthetic
> prior to starting the drilling. Instead, I just grabbed the arms of the
> dental chair and hung on for dear life. When the drill would hit a
> nerve, I would flinch but remain seated. My mom would be standing
> behind me saying to me, "If you get out of that chair, I'll break your
> arm!" So that's why I remained seated. At no time did either my mom or
> my dentist discuss giving me any sort of anesthetic to numb the pain,
> which was intense as the drill got close to a nerve.
>
> I'm *NOT* making this up. This was the dentistry I received until the
> 1970s. When I got older and got a new dentist who gave me anesthetic, I
> remember being amazed: Dentistry didn't have to be excruciatingly
> painful after all! As a child, I had assumed that excruciating pain was
> just the way dentistry was supposed to be.
>
> Does any of this sound familiar to older folks here? Was anesthetic
> only started in the 1960s, or did it exist before that? Did
> old-fashioned dentists back then eschew anesthetic for their patients?
>
> Anybody else here just forego anesthetic and accept the pain of drilling
> as just part of the dentistry process?
>
>
> --
> Steven L.
> Email: sdli...@earthlinkNOSPAM.net
> Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.

The exact thing happened to me too. We must be from the same era. To this day I am terrified to go to a dentist. I in fact get put to sleep if they are to do any drilling. The memory of that drill hitting a nerve never has left me and I am 66 years old now! Thanks for sharing your story, don't feel I am alone in this. Sue

liisa...@gmail.com

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Mar 1, 2020, 3:48:42 AM3/1/20
to
Yes. I grew up in the 80s and my mom never allowed the dentist to give Novocain either when I had cavities fixed with drilling.
I don't know why. I think it was to punish for getting cavities and that she had to pay. But maybe to save money ? We didn't have much money.
It's the worst pain ever.i understand everything you went through .
I'm still pissed about it.its sick.
First time I had Novocain was when I got out of high school. She made us pay for our own dental bills when we got into high school. I remember I had as 1000 $ root canal I had to pay for .

liisa...@gmail.com

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Mar 1, 2020, 4:12:25 AM3/1/20
to
I never had any anesthetic (novacaine) when I was going to get cavities filled growing up. I never understood why , because my mom just insisted no novacaine.
The pain was the absolute worst. I rather tear my acl than experience the pain of a drill affecting the nerve.(I've torn both acls completely already In The past.
I had my opinions on why my mom didn't allow for it. I have multiple opinions.
She grew up in Finland born in 1942. It was war time so maybe they didn't use it back then there in Finland?so maybe she just followed suit with us (her children without really thinking about it. (But if she ever had work done without it wouldn't you think she rather us have it because of the down right pain? In the 80s.
I also think we never received it because we didn't have as lot of money.but she was very insistent of us having dentistry care all through out out child hood.checkups every 6 months.
I also think sometimes that she was punishing us for getting cavities that she had to pay for.so maybe we would take better care of our teeth after feeling the pain of drilling into teeth .
I feel she had a bit of a dark side toward things because I never was brought to the doctors for anything. Even broken bones. Colds . Severe sore throats.we had school physicals done by my aunt who was a cardiologist in Finland . When she would visit or when we went over seas for the summer to visit family.
It's just idiotic not to give at least the option to a Child.It was never an option because she already made the choice for us.
I just need to read in the practice of novacaine during the time she was growing up so maybe I won't feel she was being indictive.
I commented on your reply because you provided some history on the practice of novacaine.

liisa...@gmail.com

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Mar 1, 2020, 4:17:14 AM3/1/20
to
High speed ? Low speed?
I don't care what speed it is when you have it going into the nerve. It was always so painful.

Steven Bornfeld

unread,
Mar 1, 2020, 10:22:20 AM3/1/20
to
I can't speak to what practices existed in Finland when you were
growing up. But I doubt very much that local anesthetic would have been
withheld for operative dental treatment.
When I was a child dentists frequently did not routinely give local
anesthetic. But I am not too much younger than your mom. Dentists in
my experience back then treated a far greater number of patients in a
day, and time was short. If you gave an injection, you then had to wait
for it to work. Unless a dentist was working multiple patients at the
same time, that was not practical.
Not using local anesthetic when it is needed often leads to substandard
dentistry. That was the case for me. I'm sure I was moving around in
the chair as my dentist tried to work on me, and when I became a dentist
we got a good laugh looking at the shallow, irregular fillings my
dentist had placed. One by one, they fell out, and they needed
replacement. Needless to say, I received local anesthetic when that was
done.

Steve

Cremona

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Mar 10, 2020, 10:20:33 AM3/10/20
to
Hi Steve,

How are "things"?

Steve M. from Michigan

Violin music rules

:-)

Steven Bornfeld

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Mar 10, 2020, 11:35:40 AM3/10/20
to
How nice to hear from you. You voting today?

Cremona

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Mar 10, 2020, 12:00:49 PM3/10/20
to
Not for President

I don't want to get campaign mail from either party for the rest of my life. I do not care for any candidates being offered.

I would prefer to vote: NONE OF THE ABOVE

Is Pat Paulsen running this year? Being deceased should not effect his ability to run the country.

Steven Bornfeld

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Mar 10, 2020, 3:08:07 PM3/10/20
to
LOL

janem...@googlemail.com

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Jul 25, 2020, 2:26:12 PM7/25/20
to
I am terrified by the drill now after having so many, apparently not needed, fillings without anaesthesia. It’s a pain that is hard to describe and it’s left me very phobic about drills. I had a child without any sort of anaesthetic and I am not sure which is worst!

David Ellis

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Jul 6, 2021, 8:50:18 AM7/6/21
to
I used to get dragged to a dentist in Cambridge, UK, in the pre-fluoride 60s, and he never once used local anaesthetic for cavities. His drill was of the drive and pulleys kind. He used to give one a button to press that supposedly allowed the patient to stop the drilling if it got too painful, but it was clear from his attitude that he didn't expect you to let go. My mother rewarded me with a bag of sweets after every visit to the dentist. Completely unbelievable now - in every way.
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