Dentistry
With the Federal Budget adjusted this week in an attempt to drag us back into the black, it’s time to go through government spending with a fine-toothed comb and pull back wherever we can. I’d like to help with this process if I can.
Wading through the bits of the 2011-2012 Budget that actually say actual things in actual English (that is, the bits that don’t say things like “continuing benefits to the bottom-line beyond the forward estimates”, which I assume means “um”) I was struck by some comparative numbers.
One of the numbers was $222 million, which has been earmarked to extend the National School Chaplaincy Program.
Continue reading "Government brushes holey molars for holy rollers" »
I was number three. But by 10.30, I was at the top of the list and so was wheeled out of the ward and into a special waiting bay. The waiting bay was in a corner and I had been placed facing the wall - like a recalcitrant student. So there I lay, freezing my relatively exposed ass off in a shitty hospital gown. Wondering why, after nearly a decade of spirited resistance, I had accepted my dentist’s advice to get my wisdom teeth out.
Denied a view, I began to listen to the workaday sounds around me. Behind me I could hear nurses, encouragingly asking after each other’s flu recovery. But the aural landscape was dominated by what seemed to be some kind of building works – a concrete drill perhaps, interspersed with staccato bursts of chiseling.
Prone to episodes of extreme self-absorption, this seemed a useful reminder that, although I lay in rigid anticipation of the extraction, the rest of the world had not in fact stopped, rather, it was getting about its business.
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Nightingale says:
It depends on your level of cover, how long you have had your cover, and most importantly, if your dentist is affiliated with your fund and how much they charge. I used to work for a large health fund and would have to explain all the costs. But thankfully extractions… Read more »
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Min says:
I have given birth to 3 kids, the first had to be in my own home without any pain relief at all. But I don’t think that people who consider the dentist painful are wusses. If that’s the worst you’ve had to live through, you have a very sheltered existence.… Read more »
Speaking became difficult. Laughing was out of the question. My gums were so sore that my tongue was banned from touching them. Yet somehow, with a mind of its own, playing with them was all it seemed to do.
I was reduced to eating mush. And a sneeze brought tears. So after a month of agony and torment, I decided my remaining two wisdom teeth must go.
Sympathy from my wife was noticeably lacking. Having just given birth for the third time, Rachel clearly felt that my ailment had the equivalence of a mozzie bite.
Continue reading "Scared to the back teeth, then blessed relief" »
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Kate says:
I’m having all four wisdom teeth out within the next couple of months, and probably shouldn’t have read an article about it before hand! I’m told it could be a bit complicated, but they’re so painful right now I can’t wait to get them out. I haven’t had children yet… Read more »
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Kylie says:
Oh dear. I had one of my wisdom teeth out last year in the chair, under a local. It was fine. I’ve had quite a few teeth pulled and this extraction was the most pleasant of the lot. I kept my eyes closed, did deep breathing exercices to stay calm… Read more »
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