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Non US folks: american dirty laundry to follow. Please keep the sniggering quiet.
Dental care is expensive. It is last on the list for the uninsured, who by virtue of their socioeconomic status cannot afford $3 toothbrushes, eat loads of sugary foods, smoke, and have their teeth rot in place.
They must then live with sharp and broken stumps, chronic infections and the like. Even those with safety-net type insurances often cannot find a dentist who will see them. Because of all the overhead and training, cash for a pulled tooth can run into the $100s - too much! There may be well meaning individuals who would be willing to pull a tooth for $20 but would risk being cited for practicing dentistry without a license? What to do?
The Tooth Puller is a health care professional whose practice is devoted to pulling teeth. This might be in addition to some other job skills the person in question might have, like tattoo art, body piercing or shoe repair. He or she is trained how to pull teeth then turned loose. The tooth puller could operate from a store front or have a travelling van. Troublesome teeth would be pulled for a small fee - perhaps $10-$20 each with a price break for pulling 4 or more. This would improve the dental health for the uninsured masses while not threating the livelihood of fancy dentists.
Dodgy Wiki definition of a Barber's Pole
http://en.wikipedia...iki/Barber%27s_pole
Mostly True. [gnomethang, May 13 2009]
Is it safe?
http://www.youtube....2Bk&feature=related
Warning: Contains dentist themed peril. [zen_tom, May 15 2009]
[link]
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Like it. A kind of specialised version of the old barber-surgeon. The barber-dentist.
The barbers who do the shave-and-hot-towel routine already have the chair for this idea.
Although my son has a bit of a phobia when it comes to getting his hair cut, and hearing screams from within the shop won't help.
I could just imagine the barber-dentist (exodontist) showing the customer the results with one of those two-handled mirrors they use. [+] |
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I love it. I'll be your fairy. I'll bring along my bag of
tricks. |
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What [skegger] said.
Tooth pulling and blood letting was always in the remit of your barber (hence the iconic barber's pole).
There is always the door handle and a length of string......
My parents grew up in the War, you know!. |
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- quiet sniggering (or is it shocked silence?) - |
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New Healthcare Professional: "Good Morning Sir, how may I help you?"
Hired Goon: "Awight!, My mate 'ere needs sum teef takin' aart."
New Healthcare Professional: "Certainly Sir, how many?"
Hired Goon: "Dunno yet, depends when he squeals..."
Laters.......
New Healthcare Professional: "Thank You Sir, that was five teeth"
Hired Goon: "Woss the damage, Guv?"
New Healthcare Professional: "Well, apart from the fact that your (ahem) colleague has numerous gaping wounds in his mouth and no way of plugging them I am pleased to say that we have a Special on this week - 5 for 4 which makes it a round Bullseye "
Hired Goon to Burly Associate: "Pay the man, Errol"
Exeunt Omnes |
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I've had a tooth pulled with nothing but novacaine
before and it didn't hurt a bit. The toothache
prior however was so painful I wanted to die and
take others with me. |
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//You seem to have forgotten about anaesthesia//
The barber/dentist (bentist? denter?) keeps a rubber mallet on hand for a quick knock-out. |
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// keeps a rubber mallet on hand for a quick knock-out//
Same as the old castration of a camel with two bricks.
"Does it Hurt?"
"Only if you don't get your thumbs out of the way" |
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The tooth puller would use novocain. It is cheap. |
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I know I'm just a fairy and all...but I'M NOT
INVISIBLE!!! I said novacaine was the answer way
way way long time ago. //credit where credit is
due and all...shuffling off// |
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Bliss you get credit for speaking to the heart of this: a bad
tooth is exquisitely painful, and something nearly impossible
to care for by yourself. |
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/malpractice insurance/ - the van has no license plates. |
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Hell no. If it was safe it would be expensive. |
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If you can avoid local anaesthetic toxicity, intra-arterial injection of the novocaine and disease transmission from the tooth puller reusing needles, then yes, it should be. |
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+ actually a great idea.
a story:
I met a woman from Viginia at a coffee stand in Gettysburg. She was telling me how she just had her teeth cleaned and then said, " All eleben of um"! I had to contain my laughter, but in all honesty, I have never seen so many toothless people in my life. They could probably use this service rather than letting the teeth rot out. |
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I'd want to see a real dentist. I had a molar extracted recently and it took over an hour of scraping and gouging and pulling to get all the tiny fiddly little bits of root out. Surprisingly noisy too. |
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Safe-ish. They have training, and all. |
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They used to call them "barbers." |
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[z_t] - isn't that supposed to be preceded by "Is it secret?" |
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America is such a profoundly fucked up place for the labor class. Your're told from an early age that poverty is caused by the unwillingness to work very hard. The harder people work, the more fucked they get. The entire system is based upon artificial inefficiencies that are maintained solely for the purpose of allowing a small minority to have more money than they can ever spend. |
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