Yup, and when I needed a new brace the dentist made a 3D scan of my teeth to have a custom one made.

Also, braces are practically invisable now and 3d printed

Plastic filling with ceramic particles in my case. I honestly don't know which tooth it's in anymore

My kid's orthopedist had a saw that was a pizza cutter sized cutting wheel, and it stopped when it touched your skin. He demonstrated on his own hand before he started removing cast.

My dentist does a 3d scan in the chair and has a mill onsite that generates crowns in 45 minutes.

Science is crazy

Mmhh getting a 403 error

Unlike in the movies, doctors usually aren't trained in sonography. Sure they could figure out how to scan a prostate, but they aren't gonna go out and buy a fancy 3d ultrasound just for men over 45, and they aren't going to become, or hire, sonogram techs.

And I'd rather take a finger in the butt than have to have another fucking appointment. No pun intended, but it's one finger. Unless my doctor is Andre The Giant or E.T., I think I could handle it.

It's because it's right there and requires no special equipment to get the job done. I never really got why people freak out about a finger back there, you constantly pass fecal matter several times that thick through there. If they could fully check that a baby was ok safely with their finger they'd do it.

Honestly, I bet an ultrasound wand being smashed into your cold gel slathered taint probably wouldn’t be much better

If it's simple and it works, then why change it?

There's a blood test now. Maybe your doc doesn't know about it. Maybe your doc has ulterior motives.

I have some friends in orthopedics who refer to themselves as carpenters

Shit man I'm glad I'm not a surgeon.

Could you imagine having to take 3 or 4 trips to Home Depot while your patient is just lieing on the bed, passed out and split open?

shards of exploded tooth were flying around the room

quickly and cleanly

I...I think you and I have different definitions of "cleanly". Also, please excuse me while I go and clean my teeth again!

I had a fucked wisdom tooth out, and as he grabbed it with the pliers I heard it crunch and collapse on itself and the dentist went "oh..."

Which isn't a noise you want to hear from a dentist, but again he did the job.

Not as extreme, but one of my kids had to have a cavity filled. He struggles with some sensory issues, so I was staying close by to help keep him calm.

Knowing what happens and seeing your kid's tooth enamel getting drilled away are two... very different experiences. Like with you though, they were quick, clean, and precise!

My wife has had some bad luck with dentists.

First was the wisdom teeth. Still to this day unsure of if it was a result of the extraction, but immediately after she developed an abscess on her tonsils.

The abscess needed to be drained in the ER, it was so painful. And the draining was painful, too. Not like they got Novocaine there. And then she got her tonsils removed as a result.

Then last time she had an extraction, the tooth shattered below the gum line. Dentist had her for like three hours getting all the chunks out. Her jaw was sore for like a week, not only from the extraction but also from holding that damn position for so long.

I had two lower front teeth removed recently. A lot of twisting action to get them out!

Been hearing that for decades now. I'll believe it when I can access it.

i have dental connections. what i understand is there are two different things to watch. there's a treatment that might be able to get your own body to grow another (final) set of teeth. theoretically humans can grow 3 sets, we stop at the second. that's in the works, sounds pretty painful. the other treatment is something that can regrow dentin or enamel or i can't remember it's been a while, but the one they'd be excited about is enamel so it's probably that? IIRC they both were coming out of South Korea, one in phase 1 trials and one still in animal trials.

this is me trying to remember off a conversation with my deceased dad's friend a couple months ago, so take it with a heaping heap of heaps of salt. my memory ain't all that great anymore.

Yeah..... Watching spinal surgery can be gnarly. There's a procedure to debris the spinal column before you install hardware called spinal flossing. You basically get a shop towel and wrap it around the spine and shimmy the towel like you're cleaning a bowling ball.

so fast and powerful they'll drill right through your tooth, your skull, and into your brain!

There are many uses for lasers in dentistry. And also other reasons (e.g. amygdalotomy).

I had a laser in my mouth about 6 months ago. They vaporized (a lot of) a frenulum rather than just cut it.

The worst bit was how they had to lift my upper lip and it was up against my nose so I couldn't breathe normally.

That seems like the type of thing that would still need to be administered very carefully by an expert dentist. Look at the entire field of orthodontics or the product category of braces to see what happens when teeth grow in in the wrong number, position, or orientation. In theory, anyone can perform surgery on themselves with a scalpel they sterilize on their stove top. Very few attempt that for damn good reasons.

Who do you think is going to apply the teeth regrow treatment?

if you are a non-dentist, i would advise against it/. since you could do alot of damage to teeth, better of having a dentist clean it. most of the reviews on sites that sell these have customers complained it damaged thier enamel permanently, because they do it aggressively. same goes for whitening your teeth, people do it too aggressively. i almost bought one once until i saw the reviews, yikes, because you have to use a mirror to see your teeth while doing it, and might not know if that is tartar or just staining.