NationStates Jolt Archive

There I was about an hour ago eating lunch, and something went *crunch*. A bad kind of crunch, followed by pain.

Yep, I just lost a filling. :(

Fortunately, I have a good (US trained*) dentist who speaks English and is cheap, and can fit me in at 4:00. :)

(*If you've ever seen Japanese dental work, you'll understand.)

(*If you've ever seen Japanese dental work, you'll understand.)
Sadly, I have. I've got to quit spending so much time at sushi places...even though ther's one on every corner here in NYC

Sadly, I have. I've got to quit spending so much time at sushi places...even though ther's one on every corner here in NYC
ya know what sushi tastes like? raw fish. in the words of the god "andy griffith"....i wouldn't eat anything i wouldn't step on.

I heard a rumor (reported as afact, but possibly false) that the Japanese find crooked teeth attractive, at least in women.. any truth to that? I hope so.. hooray for crooked teeth! :)

Sadly, I have. I've got to quit spending so much time at sushi places...even though ther's one on every corner here in NYC

The greatest dental horror story I've ever heard:
Many years ago, a friend got really drunk, blacked out, and awoke with several broken teeth. She got an emergency appointment with the dentist who was the wife of a student of hers. The dentist took one look, picked up some pliers, twisted the stub of a broken tooth, and asked, "Did that hurt?" :eek:

The worst part was I was comparing horror stories about the clinic after having visited the same clinic, where the husband had filled a tooth w/o anesthetic, telling me "You are too sensitive." Poor old me had never had anything more serious than a cleaning or braces tightening w/o benefit of my good friend novocaine. It was just automatic with my dentist in the US. The first two dentists I saw here were surprised at my surprise.

The last time I needed work (3 years ago), a friend reccomended the guy I'm seeing today. He put in a filling at 1/2 the price of the other 2 dentists I had been to, and completely painlessly. Plus, he has really cute dental assistants. :D

I heard a rumor (reported as afact, but possibly false) that the Japanese find crooked teeth attractive, at least in women.. any truth to that? I hope so.. hooray for crooked teeth! :)


i gots some billy bob teef at the walmart. i wonder if i can gets me an Asian bf?

(*If you've ever seen Japanese dental work, you'll understand.)

I am surprised by that. I thought the Japanese would be good at that kind of thing. I always just assumed it was cost that made many of them have crappy teeth.

Edit: I see now, it's a pain/anasthetic issue. Meh, I grew up in the UK, the japanese are right. You are too sensitive.

I heard a rumor (reported as afact, but possibly false) that the Japanese find crooked teeth attractive, at least in women.. any truth to that? I hope so.. hooray for crooked teeth! :)


Sort of. They're considered "cute" by some people, but only on young women and children. And that is changing.

One explanation I've heard is that it is related to the Japanese aesthetic of "wabi-sabi" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi). Another ideal that relates is iki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iki_%28aesthetic_ideal%29). Another explanation is that facial features are so homogeneous that anything different makes you stand out. (I've heard the same for why some huge facial moles remain.)

Tis does suck, friend.

I am surprised by that. I thought the Japanese would be good at that kind of thing. I always just assumed it was cost that made many of them have crappy teeth.

Edit: I see now, it's a pain/anasthetic issue. Meh, I grew up in the UK, the japanese are right. You are too sensitive.

No, it's not simply a pain/anasthetic issue. There are definate health issues involved in having severly crooked and overlapping teeth. The quality of dental work is also poor - most Japanese teeth are blighted by shabby fillings, over-reaching caps and bridgework and general malocclusion, which casue further health issues. And it's usually iatrogenic. Japanese dentistry is on the same level of shoddiness as British - at the bottom of the G7. There are "developing" countries that have better overall dental care.

As far as, the pain issue, it's an issue of technique. The two previous Japanese trained dentists worked with out it and were quite painful. The US trained one I'm seeing today worked without it and was entierly painless.

No, it's not simply a pain/anasthetic issue. There are definate health issues involved in having severly crooked and overlapping teeth. The quality of dental work is also poor - most Japanese teeth are blighted by shabby fillings, over-reaching caps and bridgework and general malocclusion, which casue further health issues. And it's usually iatrogenic. Japanese dentistry is on the same level of shoddiness as British - at the bottom of the G7. There are "developing" countries that have better overall dental care.

As far as, the pain issue, it's an issue of technique. The two previous Japanese trained dentists worked with out it and were quite painful. The US trained one I'm seeing today worked without it and was entierly painless.

Actually that whole set-up sounds frighteningly like the UK. Over there it is a two tier system. NHS dentistry, free clinics &c. (horrible), and private. You can get very good care, but you have to pay an arm and a leg for it. Most people can't afford it. (Though that is changing).

Even then, pain management is not a big concern. I know someone who had two molars extracted without anasthetic.

Heh. Yep, close enough. Except the Japanese version of NHS would have resulted in multiple visits due to their set up of charging by time instead of proccedure. (A good example is that a proper cleaning under National Health requires six visits - they clean upper left, upper front, upper right, lower left, lower front, and lower right.) If you aren't on that, the dentist can do everything all in one go. Fortunately I'm not on that plan. I bet you don't often hear someone say they're glad they don't have dental coverage. :eek:

What is a filling?
I have never had one of those?
Do you rub them on your body?
Is that what you do with a filling,hmmmm well is it? i wouldn't know you see because i looked and look after my teeth.
Are Filllings cheap?

I've got way too many fillings. You can't see them, but they are there.
One of my teeth are 90% filling ...

ya know what sushi tastes like? raw fish.

That's Sashimi. ;)

There I was about an hour ago eating lunch, and something went *crunch*. A bad kind of crunch, followed by pain.

Yep, I just lost a filling. :(

Fortunately, I have a good (US trained*) dentist who speaks English and is cheap, and can fit me in at 4:00. :)

(*If you've ever seen Japanese dental work, you'll understand.)

I feel your pain.

About a year ago, I had to have fillings in my back molars, and a week later one of the fillings fell out. It hurt like hell until I could get to a dentist (a different dentist) to have it refilled.

No, it's not simply a pain/anasthetic issue. There are definate health issues involved in having severly crooked and overlapping teeth. The quality of dental work is also poor - most Japanese teeth are blighted by shabby fillings, over-reaching caps and bridgework and general malocclusion, which casue further health issues. And it's usually iatrogenic. Japanese dentistry is on the same level of shoddiness as British - at the bottom of the G7. There are "developing" countries that have better overall dental care.


Britains's not really that bad. It is just the NHS is loath to do preventative work, since they get no money from it.

I had a food trap in one of my back teeth I wasn't aware of yada yada, so eventually I had to get a filling (which I got with out anesthetic, American pussies :p). Now I'm willing to pay the money for private, even on my very tight budget.

There I was about an hour ago eating lunch, and something went *crunch*. A bad kind of crunch, followed by pain.

Yep, I just lost a filling. :(

Fortunately, I have a good (US trained*) dentist who speaks English and is cheap, and can fit me in at 4:00. :)

(*If you've ever seen Japanese dental work, you'll understand.)

You lucky bastard. I live in England, where we no longer have dentists for some reason, And if anything happened to my teeth I'd probly need a bank loan or a second mortgage to sort it out.