Dental problems
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The only problem I've ever run into is a filling falling out. I was in Iraq and the detainee dentist in Abu Ghraib had to put a new one in. That was an awkward waiting room experience.
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That visual made me LOL
Devildoc
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You get at least one dental exam a year; at that time, at least in the Navy and Marines, your general state of dentition is classified and given a number, 1, 2, or 3. That number determines your deployability based on your dental health. Some conditions, you simply cannot be deployed until the choppers get fixed. Class 2, you can be deployed but certain pathology is noted (carries, still have wisdom teeth, etc).
Corpsmen can do dental care, including pulling teeth, up to a point; then, it gets kicked to a dentist if available. Those class 2 pathologies can worsen in the field, and you can get oral trauma of course, but generally if you get to the field with decent teeth, you will leave with decent teeth unless something happens.
Edited to add, if a dentist isn't available, then as @Teufel suggested the solution may be...innovative.
Corpsmen can do dental care, including pulling teeth, up to a point; then, it gets kicked to a dentist if available. Those class 2 pathologies can worsen in the field, and you can get oral trauma of course, but generally if you get to the field with decent teeth, you will leave with decent teeth unless something happens.
Edited to add, if a dentist isn't available, then as @Teufel suggested the solution may be...innovative.
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Be glad he wasn't one of the detainees who were "mishandled" by the National Guard...or you could've ended up like Dustin Hoffman in Marathon Man
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Seeing a copy of Harlan Ellison's "I have no mouth and I must scream" in there would certainly add texture.
Didn't he write "A Boy and His Dog?" One of my favorite short stories where the dog eats well.
Didn't he write "A Boy and His Dog?" One of my favorite short stories where the dog eats well.
He did. They adapted it as a movie with Don Johnson, which sucked donkey balls...
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Had a similar thing happen to one of my Marines in Iraq. Took him to the local PP and he did the replacement.
I am familiar with the Medical Readiness system. According to peer review articles in "Military Medicine" written by dentists regular dental checks (if performed) can only reduce dental emergencies by 40% as trauma and defective fillings cannot always be identified. It has also been said that 75% of dental emergencies during deployment are not preventable. Of course we should not forget the increased consumption of energy drinks which are acidic and cause massive damage to teeth.
The dentist was in the US Army. He was stationed at Abu G and took care of the Iraqi "orange is the new black" crew. I was, however, the only other American in a waiting room full of detainees.Be glad he wasn't one of the detainees who were "mishandled" by the National Guard...or you could've ended up like Dustin Hoffman in Marathon Man
Same -- our medical group had a dentist that would refer to a local facility for issues he could not address.
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