I was at the dentist the other day, drooling onto the stylish paper napkin/bib they provide, and it occurred to me just how much it must cost to run a place like that. Sure they have normal overhead like any other business owner. They have to pay for things like employees, office space, specialized equipment, and of course the sadistic looking goggle/facemask/bionic monocle thing they wear to hide their identity, but that’s not the real cost of keeping a dentist office running.
As I sat there, helpless in that mid-evil torture chair, it was clear the real cost of keeping that place running was the energy expense of keeping the water that comes out of that little gun at sub arctic temperatures. I don’t know if they add some sort of chemical to keep it from freezing when it dips below -47 degrees, but there’s nothing like having an exposed nerve lasered with that diamond sharp stream of water.
When I finished screaming, I attempted to ask why the water was so cold, but the Novocain made me sound more like a trolling motor than a human being. I think my dentist understood me none the less, because he laughed, then told me he needed to dry the area with a little puff of air.
That’s when I was made aware of the other little pleasure of that particular office. Apparently, they had not only run their air lines through the same glacial cooling unit as their water system, they’d also pumped the pressure up to about 270 PSI. That little puff of air just about blew my eyeballs out.
Another half hour of torture and they let me out of the chair. I went by the receptionist’s desk to give her my insurance information, my checkbook, all my credit cards and my first born child. When she had exhausted all forms of payment she opened her appointment book and looked up at me with a gleaming white smile.
“When can I schedule you for your next appointment sir?”
Dentists are geniuses. Who else would we pay to torture us with so much pain? Ok, there are always lawyers and cable talk show hosts, but other than that, who else is there.
Anyone out there agree? I would love to hear from you, (especially someone that can get a really good deal on a portable water heater).
Thanks for coming by and happy reading!
Coincidentally, my last Twitter post was: "Contemplating root canal work is deeply unnerving" ;^)
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Put a smile on my face. Found this on twitter.
ReplyDeleteFunny!
ReplyDeleteI can't help thinking... who would actually choose to be a dentist? Great post!
ReplyDeleteThis is why I do not like to go to the Dentist, even though mine is one of SoCal's Best!
ReplyDeleteMade me laugh! Thanks for following me on Twitter, otherwise I wouldn't have known about you. My nephew is a fireman trained in swift water rescue and often rides in the "box"(EMT wagon). Love your connection, y'all do an awesome job! Good luck with your writing!
ReplyDeletePretty funny! I enjoyed reading it. Will be back to read more.
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy! Thanks for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful post!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you need to check out the Owl City song "Dental Care". Sounds like you went to the same guy!
ReplyDelete~Debbie
Thanks for the follow on Twitter. Love this post. I can agree with your statement, but...
ReplyDeleteWatch this movie and your next visit will be even better. :) Very horrifying. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116075/
They make a trip to the gynecologist seem like a holiday.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, I think that's the funniest response I have ever had. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteJust trying to make the world a happier place one nearly inappropropriate comment at a time. :)
DeleteHi, Thanks for the laugh.
ReplyDeleteAnother fun moment is when they ask you questions that you can't possibly answer because your mouth is full of their implements of torture! And why is it that as soon as I get in the chair I start to salivate, overwhelming even "Mr. Thirsty" so that I'm constantly trying to swallow without using my tongue? Ah, life's eternal mysteries...
ReplyDeleteHi Chuck,
ReplyDeleteI like your site, you have some interesting posts. My site www.myperfectpitch.com compliments yours, consisting of interesting articles from a published author, and a free writers yearbook with over 1000 book publishers currently accepting submissions. Keep up the good work.
Regards, Brian
LOL! I really do wonder why anyone wants to become a dentist A dental student and his family moved into the house behind us and became very good friends. I never saw any sadistic leanings, and am still mystified as to why he chose that path in life. He did my teeth and was very sweet! But one of his mentors/teachers was a right sadist.
ReplyDeleteWell, first off, I'm following you, but after seeing you had this page, I just came to check it out.....I could not stop laughing!! My history with Dentists is long, that is putting it mildly, I have to get them to accept me! There were quite a few other "Fun" things that happen at the dentist office you failed to mention....But hey, this is your page ;-). Thank you for the laugh. I might comment more, however I'm on an IPad, and the typing of this post is So minuscule I can not even see what I am typing. Lol.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh so true!!
ReplyDeleteI'm sitting here with a case of the nails on the chalkboard chills.
GOD I hate the dentist--but thanks for making me laugh about it.
You are funny!
A great read. I have been there.
ReplyDeleteOnce told my dentist, who wasn't that bad, that his 'dental hygiene' routine made a medieval torturer seem like a Sunday School teacher. Funny, he wasn't amused ...
ReplyDeleteI would agree with every word you say, but I am afraid that my dentist may have my house bugged and become even more sadistic upon my next visit.
ReplyDeleteYou should be very careful what you write on this subject.
The inquisition is alive and well and living in a dental surgery near you.
Abandon hope all ye who enter there.
Just droped by to say "Hi".
ReplyDeleteThat was good, I have a root canal waiting for the same torture, but I won't resort to my wives father's idea of dental care with a pair of pliers and a bottle of sake.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I hate the dentist too (shudders). I'd even rather go to that special circle of medical hell reserved for women - aka the "vise".
ReplyDeleteDentists can't hold a candle to Urinary Consultants who are experts in understatement when about to use a cystoscope. "This may sting a little" is a euphemism for 'This is going to not only make your eyes water but take your breath away'. And they say it with a smile!
ReplyDeleteOh dude, you have not experienced the Dental School adventure! Hypodermic needle use 101 is fun for the poverty stricken patient, hoping he's is getting a decent student, who has to watch as the shaky needle hands of the students approaching your gum-line with a needle, then the bendy-upppy-down motions while they slowly and nervously inject the anesthesia. - Makes for good character building in patients! http://JamesGMason.com http://PsychoGifts.cOM
ReplyDeleteGreat blog, love it. One comment asked why anyone would want to become a dentist. I can report that a close friend from my Air Force days who was a dentist once told me something to the effect of, "I wanted to be in the medical field, but the idea of having the life of a patient in my hands made me nervous. Not good, obviously. But you see, as a dentist, I get to be called 'Doctor' and make the big bucks without all that pressure. That's because dentists are the construction workers of the medical profession." Now that explanation should explain it and put everyone's mind at ease . . .
DeleteHa! Snorted wine out of my nose! Having just had a very similar experience in said torture chair... with ice water & air conditioned air... yeah - I'm right there with you!
ReplyDeleteOMG, this made me laugh. As it happens, I have to have some major dental work done on Tuesday and now I'm not sure I'll be able to restrain from laughing while in the dentist chair.
ReplyDeleteHilarious account of trip to dentist! How we all hate that, I'm always a gibbering wreck a day or two before the appointment. C.G. Harris has a fine eye for detail (and not just when he's in the dentist's chair) and has some witty neat observations to make about the dental experience and the fact that if anyone is going to stay rich it's definitely going to be dentists! Great stuff!
ReplyDeleteLO-freaking-L!
ReplyDeleteSaw you followed me on Twitter so came to check out your blog. I have had similar thoughts on dentists, though cannot say I have a similar story to the Crapsman. Hillbilly is familiar office theme though. Please take a look at my blog, BlogTheEclectic.Blogspot.com and give me a follow. let me know about your book progress - a review for a review?
ReplyDeleteEver notice how most dentists talk softly just like undertakers do? I guess that would be the next logical career move for them when torturing live people just doesn't do it for them anymore.
ReplyDeleteNice job. Just caught up and will be following.
ReplyDeleteYou're a hoot. LOL
ReplyDeleteJeanette Cheezum/vision79
I have similar thoughts about a dental visit! :)
ReplyDeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteNicely narrated
Regards
SS Soni
That just about sums it up! Thank you for describing the blatantly agonizing experience so succinctly. And for making me laugh.
ReplyDeleteI'm a woman, my pain threshold is off the scale and I'm uber tolerant, but I've just sacked my dentist when the brief for my extraction included "you'll probably end up in hospital" which was just after he made stand outside in the rain while he ate his sandwiches. I sacked the previous dentist for putting me through 4 agonizing failed attempts to do a root canal and quoting £1700 to finish the job.
ReplyDeleteI'm moving counties to find a dentist who isn't a descendent of the Marquis de Sade with a cash fettish.
Thanks for making me laugh, its good to know I'm not alone.
Last time I was at the dentist, he found something in my mouth that made him scream, "What the hell is that?" Answering him was difficult, of course, and I was rather hoping he'd tell ME.
ReplyDeleteDentist? Ooh. They're scary. Then again, they're brave. They have to look inside at every bad-breathed person what sits in their chair. Not a job for me!
ReplyDeleteI am LOL'ing right now!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I needed a good laugh today. :)
Hmm. Testing out why I show up as lorrainemariereguly when I use my Wordpress account and as me here when I use my Google account. I don't know how to get my gravatar to display...Any advice?
ReplyDeleteLoved this post, still laughing!