Word: dentist
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Take a dentist's drill, a meat grinder . . . Take lights and deform them as brutally as you can. Make locomotives crash into one another . . . Explode steam boilers to make railroad mist. Take petticoats and the like, shoes and false hair, also ice skates...
Ultimately, the dentist's principal instrument of agony, the drill, may be used less often because of a substance called Caridex 100, developed at Tufts University in Medford, Mass. Caridex, which is gradually being introduced around the country, is an amino-acid solution that dissolves tooth decay, leaving behind a clean, sturdy area that can be filled with little or no drilling. However, the method is not suitable for all cavities...
...most popular cosmetic technique is bonding, in which plastic resins are applied directly to the surface of teeth to mask chips, discolorations and cracks, or even to conceal unattractive gaps between teeth. The procedure is simple, and can be performed by almost any dentist. The resins are painted on teeth that have first been prepared by the application of a mild acid solution. Next a layer of tooth-colored material is applied in the desired shape, then the coatings are hardened with either chemicals or a beam of ultraviolet light and polished. Bonding costs anywhere from...
...population ages and more people keep their own teeth, periodontics, the specialty that deals with the treatment of gum disease, has become a large portion of the dentist's trade. More than 70% of tooth loss among adults is due to gum disease, which typically remains symptomless until it is well advanced. Says Dr. John Karch of Atlanta: "It is second only to the common cold" in the number of people affected. Gum disease is caused by bacteria that produce a colorless, sticky film called plaque, which, if left undisturbed by a toothbrush or dental floss, leaves a hard residue...
...improve." His affectionate sketches provide a full granary of bemused narratives about favorite Wobegonians, including Father Emil, who blesses animals on the lawn of Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility Church; the Statue of the Unknown Norwegian, which sprouts grass from an unusual place; and Angler Dr. Nute, a retired dentist who tells the sunfish, "Open wide . . . This may sting a little...