I just got some serious dental work done- a root canal. Like most people, a visit to the dentist is not something I look forward to, so I procrastinated until what could have been a simple filling needed the distressing blasting and excavation that is a root canal procedure.
One of the ways I manage to put off tasks that I would rather not do, is to cleverly channel my energies on a 'let's-gather-all-the-information-we-can-on-this' effort. This is a ploy from my management days, but it works best on me. So while my maxillary first premolar suffered its way to becoming a candidate for a root canal, I gathered a whole lot of information on the internet about teeth. You will now understand why this post is precious.
Here is some of the stuff I learnt:
The Basic stuff: Human beings, like all mammals, are diphyodont, meaning that they develop two sets of teeth (milk/baby teeth, and the permanent teeth that come around the age of seven). Sharks are blessed; they grow teeth every two weeks (polyphyodont), though all that teething must make them very irritable. A naughty thought: if I were a shark, and in a dentist's chair, it would be the dentist's turn to be very, very afraid, wouldn't it?
Also, while being a 'dog psychologist' could net you upto half a million dollars a year, you are likely to be very poor as a dog dentist - dogs' don't get cavities because their saliva is alkaline.
The Geeky Stuff: Dentists use three different systems (notations) for identifying teeth .
The Historical Stuff: The outermost surface of teeth is composed of enamel, which is the hardest substance of the body. But obviously not hard enough to keep dentists out. Our diets are to blame, as usual. Archeologists have found a huge increase in tooth decay from around the Neolithic period (about 8500 BC) when most humans changed from being hunter-gatherers to 'settled' agriculturists, eating a lot of grain. There was apparently very little tooth decay before that, when the whole world was on the Atkins diet.
Incidentally, with the 'Neolithic Revolution' and dental decay and dentists, also came food surpluses, and kings who 'appropriated' those surpluses so that they could wage war against other kings - till Marx, and Lenin and Mao took them back for us. So that they could wage war on us. Religion came too, and the Pope, and Osama, and the War on Terror. It took John Lennon to imagine how different things could have been. But all that in a seperate post.
Something current: In 2006, nearly half a million Americans traveled abroad for medical treatment, according to this article in the New York Times, of whom about 40% are estimated to have been dental tourists. India, is apparently a very popular destination, 'putting smiles on many faces', as the Economic Times puts it.
Photos are thanks to Matt Logelin who also writes an extremely moving blog here. By sheer coincidence, Vinoo sent me a Facebook message with Matt's blog just this morning. Later, while I was writing this, I came across these pictures by Matt via Google Images, and selected them, without realizing they were his.
No, the guy in the picture is not my dentist.
One of the ways I manage to put off tasks that I would rather not do, is to cleverly channel my energies on a 'let's-gather-all-the-information-we-can-on-this' effort. This is a ploy from my management days, but it works best on me. So while my maxillary first premolar suffered its way to becoming a candidate for a root canal, I gathered a whole lot of information on the internet about teeth. You will now understand why this post is precious.
Here is some of the stuff I learnt:
The Basic stuff: Human beings, like all mammals, are diphyodont, meaning that they develop two sets of teeth (milk/baby teeth, and the permanent teeth that come around the age of seven). Sharks are blessed; they grow teeth every two weeks (polyphyodont), though all that teething must make them very irritable. A naughty thought: if I were a shark, and in a dentist's chair, it would be the dentist's turn to be very, very afraid, wouldn't it?
Also, while being a 'dog psychologist' could net you upto half a million dollars a year, you are likely to be very poor as a dog dentist - dogs' don't get cavities because their saliva is alkaline.
The Geeky Stuff: Dentists use three different systems (notations) for identifying teeth .
- The British use the Palmer notation, which was actually devised by a Hungarian called Adolf Zsigmondy (trust the Brits to steal the credit), who unsurprisingly, was also a politician. It is the easiest to understand, but is a pain to type because it uses some symbols which you won't find in Microsoft Word. I guess you won't find many British dentists blogging about their work.
- The Americans have a 'Universal Number System' which no one else follows, but must go well with their gallons, miles, pounds, and 110 volt/60 Hz appliances.
- The rest of the world follows the FDI World Dental Federation notation, which is very like the Palmer notation, but without the symbols. FDI, incidentally stands for 'Fédération Dentaire Internationale'; it is amazing how the French manage to insinuate themselves into the standards business - the metric system is also called the 'SI' system (for 'Système International d'Unités').
The Historical Stuff: The outermost surface of teeth is composed of enamel, which is the hardest substance of the body. But obviously not hard enough to keep dentists out. Our diets are to blame, as usual. Archeologists have found a huge increase in tooth decay from around the Neolithic period (about 8500 BC) when most humans changed from being hunter-gatherers to 'settled' agriculturists, eating a lot of grain. There was apparently very little tooth decay before that, when the whole world was on the Atkins diet.
Incidentally, with the 'Neolithic Revolution' and dental decay and dentists, also came food surpluses, and kings who 'appropriated' those surpluses so that they could wage war against other kings - till Marx, and Lenin and Mao took them back for us. So that they could wage war on us. Religion came too, and the Pope, and Osama, and the War on Terror. It took John Lennon to imagine how different things could have been. But all that in a seperate post.
Something current: In 2006, nearly half a million Americans traveled abroad for medical treatment, according to this article in the New York Times, of whom about 40% are estimated to have been dental tourists. India, is apparently a very popular destination, 'putting smiles on many faces', as the Economic Times puts it.
This dentist prefers euros over dollars...
Photos are thanks to Matt Logelin who also writes an extremely moving blog here. By sheer coincidence, Vinoo sent me a Facebook message with Matt's blog just this morning. Later, while I was writing this, I came across these pictures by Matt via Google Images, and selected them, without realizing they were his.
No, the guy in the picture is not my dentist.
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