Scary? Try a trip to the dentist
By Staff
Leada Gore, Editor
As a child, there were no more terrifying words than “it’s time to go to the dentist.”
Mom’s simple declaration of needed dental attention was enough to invoke a crying fit, often accompanied by kicking and screaming.
And I was 25.
My father worked for a company that operated its own on-site medical facilities so a trip to the dentist entailed a visit to the large pipe plant where he worked. Even today, when I catch the smell generated by manufacturing pipe, I revert back to that scared child going to the dentist. I referred to our dentist as Dr. Poison Ivy. I don’t remember why but even as a child I picked up on his prickly demeanor.
There were no stickers, crayons or lollipop that made a trip to the dentist bearable. Even those pills you would chew that turned your teeth purple to show you where you weren’t brushing didn’t make it more enjoyable.
Fast forward 30 or so years. Now, I’m an adult. And while the thought of going to the dentist isn’t my idea of a good time, I no longer avoid it like, well, poison ivy. I know and like several dentists and have come to regard my trips there as necessary evils.
Still, I couldn’t help but cringe when I read the story of a New York woman and her experience with an allegedly less-than-spectacular dentist.
Brandy Fanning of Syracuse, New York has filed a $600,000 lawsuit against her dentist, Dr. George Trusty. In her lawsuit, Fanning accuses Trusty of causing her injury resulting in emergency surgery after the drill bit he was using broke off and lodged near her eye. Fanning alleges Trusty was dancing to the ‘70s tune “Car Wash” when the incident occurred. The lawsuit accused Trusty of “performing rhythmical steps and movements” during the dental procedure. When Trusty used a metal hook (yes, a metal hook. See why I cringed?) to remove the piece, Fanning said he only pushed it up further into her head. He then allegedly told her not to worry, she’d probably sneeze the drill bit out then added that she might want to go to the emergency room, just in case.
Oops.
Fanning is now claiming she suffered irreparable nerve and facial damage as a result of the incident.
Big oops.
I don’t know what really happened to Fanning at the dentist’s office but I do know this. The next time I am at the dentist’s office, he better be playing some easy listening music and no disco and definitely no rap.
Can you imagine the injury you could sustain if “Rapper’s Delight” broke out? What if he liked heavy metal? I’d hate to see what AC/DC could do to a wisdom tooth. Maybe, Dr. Poison Ivy wasn’t so bad after all.
