Dr Leatham's life as a Dental patient

One of the reasons I decided to go into Dentistry was because of the benefits I have had in my life because of Dental work.  I am sure many of my patients have wondered just how much I may be able to relate to them.  I will walk you through my life as a dental patient, both before and after Dental School.

My first memory of the Dentist

This is not the actual Dentist's nose hairs
But this is what I remember of him.

I don't remember much of the Dentist from when I was younger.  I was a fairly complacent child and there was a lot of fluoride naturally in the water were I grew up in Logandale Nevada.  I do remember being very excited to get a round sticker with a picture of a tooth on it.   Even more than that was I remember the Dentist's nose hairs.


When I was growing up Dentistry had not adopted as many of the infection control protocols as are used today.  So when I went to the Dentist he did not wear masks, and I remember looking up to a forest of hairs growing out of his nostrils.  Today when I put my mask on for my pediatric patients I will tell them I am going to put no my mask so they won't have to see my nose hairs.  I usually will get a laugh out of their parents.  The kids on the other hand are a tougher crowd to please.

Having a baby tooth pulled
I did have to have a baby tooth pulled when I was young.  I don't remember how young but I do remember it had to come out because it had stayed in longer than it was suppose to.  Of course my Mom could have told me that so I didn't think I had any cavities.

I don't remember the shot so it must have been a painless injection.  I do remember holding my Mother's hand and hearing the sounds of the extraction.  This Dentist must have kept his nostrils trimmed because I don't remember him having the nose hairs.

Two full days in the chair
I have mentioned before that I have a big mouth and had very small teeth.  When I was about to graduate high school my parents invested in getting me teeth that would fit my mouth.  Our family Dentist was taking courses on veneers and I was able to be his patient for one of the courses.  I sat through the work to get eight veneers the procedure is in two parts and because it was in a learning environment it talk longer than usual I believe it was around 6 hours one day and about 3 hours another day a month later.

I didn't mind all that much because I was a teenage boy and his assistant had very pretty eyes.  Although I do remember the numbness wearing off on on of the teeth and not saying anything for about 15 min.  They said I looked a little tense and asked if I could feel the drilling, I nodded and they gave me some more anesthetic.

My wisdom teeth story

The exchange of wisdom teeth stories can be quite the conversation.  People tell their sideways, upside-down impacted wisdom teeth stories along with their bizarre and hilarious behavior after the IV sedation, I don't have any over the top conversation topping tails for my wisdom teeth.  They didn't have enough space to come in, there was only 2, they came out with no complications.

I remember going in to the Oral Surgeons office and them putting me under.  The funny thing was is that after the surgery I did not want to be helped when I was walking, but then I was very excited when I got to ride in the wheel chair.  My Mother drove me home after.  She tells me that I reminded her that I needed stop by the post office and mail some letter about ten times on our 1 hour drive home.  Nothing too complicated or bizarre, sorry for the let down.  I'm sure there are many more exciting wisdom teeth stories out there.


My first cavities
I have a confession to make, The first cavity I ever had was while I was in Dental school,  I actually think I got the cavity in undergraduate from the late night Dr. Pepper and snacks I ate to get a few extra hours of studying in.  To make matters worse my next three cavities were right after Dental school, probably for the same reason, eating junk while studying.
I had a fellow college do the fillings on these teeth and I have had a clean dental bill of health since then.  When I had my fillings done I tried the oraverse to have the numbing reversed and I thought is was fantastic.  By the time I drove a few blocks home I had feeling in my mouth again.

 These are pictures of my 2nd and 3rd cavities ever,
And to my everlasting shame they were found after  I was a Dentist

I blame these cavities on my junk food study habits in Dental school,
Oh the irony!

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