Daily Entertainment: Shiny White Teeth edition!

[damncompass]

Gotta go to the dentist this morning, Milliways. I'm not pleased!

In that case, how about:

Dentistry! What is dentistry like in your character's world? Do they take care of their teeth or ignore them and pray they don't fall out?

Comments

[sdelmonte]

We never hear about dentists on Star Trek, but I am sure it's a great system. Kirk never loses that smile. And I bet dental replacements after being punched in the mouth are easy.

Knox, Charlie and Cyborg have pretty much what we have (even if dental care has advanced into the digital age). All three brush regularly, but only Cy goes twice a year - his teeth are among the few original parts left and he wants to keep them.

Gibbs knows not of dental hygiene. It's a miracle he hasn't lost all his teeth yet, and odds are he's got cavities he can ignore only when on a large enough supply of rum.

[road_to_calvary]

Completely apt DE on the day I have root canal. Ugh, dentists. I feel your pain. Literally.

Gene and the Bruces have access to modern dentistry, though Gene is the unlucky one here because a) not so advanced in the 70s/80s and b) he subjects himself to the NHS. On the other hand, he's dead and living in a fantasy world of his own making, so he never gets toothache. Bruce B puts up with whatever local treatment there is whenever he needs it - but actually, I'm not sure he ever does. He doesn't get sick, so why would he get toothache? If his teeth can survive radiation, they're probably OK. And Bruce Wayne obviously has perfect teeth, as he can afford the best care there is.

Javert and Valjean fall very much into the 'ignore them and pray they don't fall out' category, though both used the brushes and toothpaste that were available in their time. Dentistry was not advanced, put it that way. They both seem to have got lucky with not having lost loads by now, probably because neither of them really go near sugar. Javert is still being stubborn in the bar and using 1832 toothpaste; Valjean is less stubborn, and very much enjoying modern toothpaste and brushes, though he hasn't gone as far as to try a battery operated one yet.

[camwyn]

In Shephard and Gordon's world, Arnold the medic and several other people are frantically reading up on any dentistry texts they can find, because if there are dentists alive out there somewhere they're not in the West Virginia area. This also applies to obstetrics and gynecology, although in the case of obstetrics a few veterinarians are known to be offering their services should nothing else be available.

There may be dentists in the Commonwealth and the New California Republic, but in the Capital Wasteland, if you have an oral issue you'd be better off rinsing your mouth out with vodka repeatedly to kill the germs. Dr. Pinkerton, in Rivet City, is the closest we have to a canonical dentist and that's only because he's capable of doing facial reconstructive surgery, so draw your own conclusions as to what'll happen to your mouth if you go to him.

The PPDC has a lot of other issues, but they have fabulous dental insurance.

Dentistry, like medicine, is handled mostly by herbs and alchemy in Varric's world, with some healing magic if you're willing to let somebody near your face with that stuff.

Medic puts people back together after or during fights. Dentistry is a separate specialization for other people to handle. I suspect there are dentists on BLU staff because really, do you want outsiders having that intimate of a medical record for your people?

Mordin is from a seriously shiny spacefuture. The species with teeth have excellent dentists.

El Santo has 1967 dentistry available to him, and unless one of his lucha scientist friends has multi-classed to oral health in addition to nuclear physics and alien biology, that's about it. I have a feeling he has a few cavities from when he was younger but that he takes care of his teeth overall.

And Edward Kenway seems to take some care of his teeth, if only because other pirates in his canon have worse visible teeth than him, but given that he speaks of treating a case of the pox with quicksilver at one point during the game I suspect we're talking 1715-realistic levels of dentistry are all he has going for him.

[genarti]

Enjolras: See Write's answer about the quality of dentistry going on. That said, Enjolras canonically has really good teeth, so I guess he's lucky! (Why do we know about Enjolras's teeth? Because Victor Hugo REALLY REALLY LIKED going on about how pretty Enjolras is, that's why. TEETH LIKE PEARLS, okay sure Victor.)

Thor: is an Asgardian. Do they even need to brush their teeth? HECK IF I KNOW. Probably yes, for hygiene at least, in which case he does. And he's the king's son, so whatever level of dental care is needed (whether for ongoing maintenance or because he just got punched in the face really hard), he gets it. As with most medical care, he regards it as a nuisance to be gotten over with so he can go back to having fun.

River: has access to more-than-modern dentistry, whatever that entails. Her family is totally the kind where you're raised to brush and floss and get regular cleanings, although in her fugitive years she didn't necessarily get to the cleanings part of that. (Simon is not a dentist.) She has good teeth -- it's amazing how many people on tv shows have good skin and straight white teeth, isn't it? -- so that didn't cause her any problems. I... don't think she's gotten back in the habit of going to the dentist, though. She would if she were having toothache or other problems that needed to be dealt with, but for a routine cleaning getting in that dentistry chair to have metal implements come at her head is more trauma than it's worth. River is probably a sedation dentistry person these days.

Regan: see River's answer, but without the fugitive years and trauma. She's dutiful about going to the dentist every so often, and she probably has a few fillings and so forth.

Clare: does not understand what you mean, because her world is on the "if the tooth hurts too much, pull it out" level of dentistry. In any case, Claymore healing means it's not really relevant to her. Pretty sure she swishes out her mouth with water sometimes and calls it good.

Edit: and Trowa, whoops! He definitely has good tooth care in terms of brushing, flossing, etc, and I guess anything else his modern-to-futuristic world takes as routine. I doubt he ever got in the habit of going in for cleanings, though -- the mercenary troop would not likely have had a specific dentist attached, and it's not a thing Trowa would have seen as important to pick up later, or had imposed on him as a requirement. So I think he's another who'd go to the dentist if he were having dental problems, but not without that.

[1nv1nc1ble]

Mark is half-Viltrumite. The bacteria present in the human mouth cannot compete with his enamel. They're probably there, sulking, until he brushes his teeth every morning, when they die in frustration. As an American, he has access to early Twenty-First century dentistry, and his family dentist has always been amazed at the quality of Nolan and Mark Grayson's teeth. Debbie, on the other hand, needs to floss more.

[fairy_fixit]

Dentistry exists as much of a concept as surgery does. Dentists pull teeth, surgeons amputate limbs. The idea is widespread enough that you can get away with "Trust me, I am a dentist!" shenanigans, but I doubt personal or preventative dental hygiene is a thing.

The fairies have specialized teams of tooth extractors *shudder* and of course, the supercandy spells that make teeth fall out on their own.

[bjornwilde]

Ugh, my sympathies.

Jessica takes special care of her teeth since visiting a dentist is problematic. If she ever needs surgery or whatever, it'll be without drugs as she'd be immune to any anesthetics they can give her. Aren't super powers great? I actually love the little side effects of super powers vs. normal life.

Hank has good dental hygiene as well, it's part of his vague OCD-ness.

Anton has healers for any dental problems, as does Brimstone.

I doubt there are dentists in the Enchanted Forest and the Empire, so I imagine Mulan keeps her teeth as clean as she keeps herself. Which is to say very clean.

Hygiene is very important to shape shifters in Andrea's canon. One of the worse and most casual insults you can give a shape shifter is to call them filthy. I would imagine this would carry over to dental hygiene as well. As to dental tech, they have the same tech as us, though it may not be as reliable given the tug of war between magic and tech.

[brutalcareer]

This depends heavily on where the character lives. I'm sure in the richer Districts such as Cato's they had decent dentistry as they're so close to the Capitol. Also a District 2 victor, Enobaria had her teeth filed down due to becoming famous for something she did in the games (it's gory so I will refrain from mentioning it in detail here)

[gavin62truck]

Tommy treats going to the dentist like going to the doctor: only in emergencies and as a last resort. He'd rather get his hands on painkillers by whatever means necessary than actually take care of the problem. Fortunately he's not that big on sweets and he does brush his teeth every day, though he's probably not the sort to floss.

(Side note: I once had to go make an emergency visit to a dentist I found online. He was Russian and had an assistant named Igor, and they proceeded to extract a wisdom tooth right there and then. After the novocaine kicked in, I found the entire situation hilarious.)

[just_a_chemical]

Well, you could go to one of the many fine dentists in Rapture (free plasmids with root canal at Dandy Dental, while supplies last!) although, given Dr. Steinman, I can't help picturing the dentists as like Little Shop of Horrors...

Or you can get yourself implanted with a sea-slug that promotes healing, which is lucky for Eleanor, since she presumably lives on a diet of Hop-Up Cola and creme-filled cakes.

[cameoflage]

Thurlow has 1880s/1890s dentistry available to them, which is not exactly impressive by modern standards. They're fairly attentive to hygiene in general, which includes keeping their teeth clean. However, their teeth grow back if they lose one, so it's not such a big deal if they need a tooth pulled.

Aradia has never been to a dentist in her life; trolls aren't big on medical care and there are no adult professional anythings on Alternia. They probably do brush their teeth though, since all the trolls have nice white chompers (even Equius, who's missing a few). Trolls' teeth grow back, though, so if you have a painful or rotten tooth it's probably standard procedure to knock it out and wait for the replacement to grow in.