First Tooth

Since Elizabeth appreciated yesterday's post so much I decided to post this. Believe it or not, I still have the first tooth I ever extracted!

I was doing a turn in a medicaid clinic on Hough St. on Thursday afternoons. I think it was my second time there when a 16-year old girl came in with a bad toothache. The senior doc came out of his office long enough to tell me the clinic didn't do molar endo and to take it out. Now here's the scary part: I hadn't done my time in oral surgery yet. Didn't matter to him. He returned to his lair and I numbed the pt. up. Now, I hadn't done my rotation, but I had read the book! I forgot the part about elevating, or loosening, the tooth prior to the application of the forceps, though, and went immediately to the #23 forceps (or cow horns).

Cowhorns (Gee, I wonder why they call them that?)

I knew the beaks were supposed to fit under the gums between the two roots of a lower molar and that by squeezing the handles together it would lift the tooth out of the socket. Yeah, right. Well, that's what I tried to do and the tooth just sat there. The patient squirmed a bit, but the tooth didn't budge. I squoze harder. Still no luck. Not willing to admit defeat, I applied still more pressure and started rocking the tooth back and forth. By this time the patient was bouncing around more than I was and my assistant (Franklin, I still remember her name to this day) was collapsed against the wall in helpless laughter. Finally the tooth literally flew out of the mouth and fell on the floor. I stuck gauze over the extraction site, told her to bite down, and said something to the effect of "problem solved!" and dismissed the patient. Later that night I read the book again.