My Enemy, The Dentist (John Whittier, 1956)

My Enemy, The Dentist
John Whittier, 1956

It isn't unusual for people to dislike going to the dentist.

The waiting in the outer office is really terrible when you try not to listen, but can't help hearing the cry of pain from the person before you. You feel like getting up and leaving, but you try to let everyone else think you're not the least bit afraid.

Everytime I am in the dentist's chair, I get the feeling that the dentist isn't telling me all the things I should know, and the words he uses to tell the nurse what has to be done are like those of a foreign language.

How I dread it when the dentist starts to go to work! Try to imagine the buzzing sound of a drill as it digs into a decayed tooth or the cracking of a tooth that was too far gone and had to be extracted; it hurts just to think of it.

I am sure you have all gone through the part when the dentist asks, "Does it hurt?" and you have so many instruments and so much cotton in your mouth that you couldn't answer him even if you wanted to.

I never take my eyes off the dentist from the time I enter up to the time I leave.

If you really stop and think for a miute, you will find out that the dentist isn't an enemy but a good friend. Think of the hours that you have suffered with a toothache. If you see the dentist, it may hurt for a few minutes, but then the pain is all over. I used to think it wasn't right to pay so much money for so much pain. Now I realize that it was worth every cent to get rid of those nights that were spent in never-ending torture with a toothache.

Going to the Dentist is Good for your Heart

Women who go to the dentist have healthier hearts.

That’s according to a new study from University of California, Berkeley researchers, who published their findings online Sept. 29 in the journal Health Economics. The study suggests that women who get dental care reduce their risk of heart attacks, stroke and other cardiovascular problems by at least one-third.

Data came from nearly 7,000 people, ages 44-88 enrolled in the Health and Retirement Study.

“Many studies have found associations between dental care and cardiovascular disease, but our study is the first to show that general dental care leads to fewer heart attacks, strokes and other adverse cardiovascular outcomes in a causal way,” said study lead author Timothy Brown, Ph.D., assistant adjunct professor of health policy and management at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health.

This longitudinal study followed the same individuals over time, and each biennial survey included questions on whether subjects had visited the dentist and whether they had experienced a heart attack, stroke, angina or congestive heart failure during the prior two years. Deaths from heart attacks or strokes were also included in the analysis and the study took into account other risk factors, such as alcohol and tobacco use, high blood pressure and body mass index.



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