On dentistry, whenever I'm feeling sorry for myself, I think about how horrible things would have been had I been born in another century. I'd probably have a mouth full of rotten teeth. If a tooth gave me pain, I'd either have to live with it, or have it pulled - without anesthesia - by some random who wouldn't even sterilize his instruments. At some point, I'd probably be down to a few teeth, and that would really weaken the integrity of my jaw and make it look all scrunched. I would have a very hard time eating anything but mush, so the nutritional deficiencies I would likely already have would be compounded. I wouldn't remember what it was like living without halitosis at that point. And it wouldn't occur to me to provide any dental car to my dogs, so they would also suffer.

I haven't had to have much done at the dentist so far - a couple fillings and my wisdom teeth taken out. They were really impacted and also caused me to frequently bite my cheeks in the night and while eating. I did have to have one of the sockets reopened and debrided due to post-op inflammation, which was fun. But, luckily, I haven't had to have any root canals or crowns so far. They don't sound fun.