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oralsurgery

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Extraction

Took out a really really difficult tooth today. #18 (lower left molar), root canal treated, very broken down. Nothing, and I mean no-thing, above bone. Whoa. Elevated a nice flap because I learned the hard way what happens when you do NOT do that… you end up with tissue that looks like hamburger when you are done, and at this point you start to wonder, seriously, that hackneyed phrase from your oral surgery attendings: “if you treat tissue like that, you’re no different than a butcher”. So, yeah, the tissue in this case was in great shape. Good to see. These roots, though, man. They currrrved into bone, down, and down.

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Surgery

This morning, we went right down the line and took out three tricky teeth on a very nice fellow who didn’t speak English. Mykala picked me up for lunch (we’ve been lunching together a lot lately) and I shared a miniature revelation.

“I think I know why most surgeons have big egos.”

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Conscious Incompetence

“Tell me about your patient.”
“I, uh, well. She’s here to get #30 out. Uhh. She has hypertension and is taking medication for it.”
“Like?”
“Hydrochlorothiazide.”
“Which is?”
“Err… a loop diuretic.”
“Nope.”
“A potassium sparing diuretic.”

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Visiting the oral surgeon

Visiting the oral surgeon - Only Matthew Baldwin could make this anecdote funny. Hilarious, even.