You would be surprised how many times patients will ask "Do you think we can save my teeth"? A question that always causes me to fight back a huge belly laugh. Not what patients want to hear from their dentist at that point.

The reason for the internal chuckle? I once worked in a large (we're talking over 100 dentist) group practice. One of the dentists in the clinic I worked with was a classmate of mine who was always good for a laugh or two. One day I was idly chatting with this dentist as he was doing an exam on a patient that had come in with a tooth ache. The patient asked "Do you think we can save the tooth"? I swear H. Dean didn't even miss a beat and replied, "Did you bring a jar"? I had to make a hasty retreat from the room so as not to embarrass myself or the patient.

Another thing patients seem to think is a wise thing to do is to put aspirin on teeth that hurt. Have you ever seen what aspirin does to soft tissue?! It is a very strong acid and it turns soft tissue white from causing acid burns. Well, patients think this really works well, and to some extent, it does. But not for the reason the patient thinks it does. What happens when you put an aspirin in your mouth...it dissolves and you swallow it. You just took an aspirin. Hey, the pain is getting less. But man, does that tissue hurt. All that to relate a patient coming in with a tooth ache, and once again I was idling away the time visiting with H. Dean. He took a look in the patients mouth and asked if the patient had been putting aspirin on the tooth. Yes. H. Dean immediately asked, "What do you do when you get a headache? Tape an aspirin to your forehead"? Another hasty retreat. H. Dean had a real way with words.