St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-08-12
TOOth-PuIIing Then and Now.

an was nan dragged INTO the
village doctors abode to have an ach-
ing tooth attended to. There was no
oehtistS within miles-in fact, don't
suppose any of the villagers knew
what a dentist was. The doctor had n
urug store IN front and the ''surgery''
In the rear of the building he occupied,
the whole pervaded with that we'll
known medicinal smell that is so char
acterlstic of the place. 1t was, aban-
don hope all small boys who entered
there; Although my head was ban
daged up with big towel around my
Jaws, and although | was soaked in
camphor and pain-killer and relief, and
all the patent remedies a country
house delights in, yet the twinging of
the nerve had kept right on as if these
warranted cures We're not backed by
testimonials by half the clergymen in
the country. But if the toothache had
wlthstood the united efforts of this
healing host it was instantly vanquish-
ed 10y the peculiar odor of the doctors
office.
open your mouth" said the doctor.
The cavity yawned.
The physician took pointed steel
arrangement and tapped the tooth, at
which | WINGED, and then he remarked:
liberated at the roots.r
itP" viii = '''''' " ~ '''0
Certainly here is sure cure.
never knew it to fall And he picked
up steel instrument with strong
handle at right angles to it, while at
the other end were little stout clasps of
steel for Srasping the tooth With
TINS terrible instrument the tooth had
to yield, the jaw break or the head
come off. | believe there are no such
weapons in existence now.
Isn't there some other way than to
pull the tooth ?" | asked, wishing for
Just one twang of the treacherous
toothache.
go, it won't hurt you may pinch
for a second or So" said the doctor as
he wiped thin and shining blade, and
unbluShingly told this bare faslehood,
which dentists also deal in to the pres
ent day.
With the sharp lance he quickly cut
around the defective tooth, unheeding
my shrek of pain.
"Ihat's the worst" he calmly said
''The rest is il mere formality," and he
picked up that tooth wrench, and in
spite of my active resistance he, aided
and abetted by the persons who had
me i'll charge, fastened those clutches
of steel on the tooth.
Never will | forget the grating of
the cold metal on the enamel. clinch-
ed my teeth on the iron bar and fran
tically struggled i'll vain. My friend -
how hollow the word sounds-held my
head while the doctor braced his foot
against the round of the chair, clutch
ed the handle so that the bar came
from between his second and third fin
gers into my mouth and firmly put on
the twisting pressure.
Heavens what an age of supreme
agony was compressed in that dread
moment. The terrible strain the feel
ing that the top of my head must come
down through the roof of my mouth
the terrible crash, as if everything in
side the skull was hopelessly broken
the final wrench and the grOan of ut
ter despair as the bleeding prongs
were triumphantly shown by the doe
tor--all this form and episode brief in
time, but an eternity i'll torture.
Last week it was decided that my
wisdom tooth must be extracted. 1t
any wisdom in its present situation,
and so it wanted to leave.
| sat back i'll the dentists luxurious
chair, whose only counterpart in this
vain world is that of the barber. Be
fore me on IA small round swivel table
is IL collection of polished Instruments,
little mirror and big one, glass of
water and some minute Jumps of vel
| lou III f,..x
apparatus, and as the dentist turns a
small wheel gas holder rises slowly
upward until it contains some ten or
eleven gallons. A rubber tube is at
tached and the end of the tube toward
me has sort of rubber mask that is
to 60 over my face.
"This may be an amusing chemical
experiment to YOU" | remark, "but
must admit that was never so thor
Oughly frightened i'll my life. How
many do you have die here in Il week
if you have luck ?"
"Well, about 1000, 900 have taken
the vitalized air all over the world, and
four have died"
'Do you know if the fifth man is
about due now Because, You know,
it's no trouble for me to wait"
W lln
beefsteak than die of the nitrous OK
ide"
With this assurance the mask is put
over mouth and nose and the gentle
man who has been an overlOOker turns
on the gas.
"Keep your finger moving" said the
dentist.
The finger moves. breathe the
gas and gaze steadily at the building
opposite with firm determination not
to become insensible. The air seems
to taste sweet for Il moment, then there
is IA sense of oppression and "A ringing
in the ears. The finger still beats time,
but the building opposite seems deter
mined to wObble. | appear to be sink
ing into deeper water, the ringing in
creases, then becomes faint. try to
remember the sensations so that | can
write them dowH, but "A wave has come
over the intellect, although | am CON
scious of keeping the finger going.
The building has faded from view.
l feel the dentist graphing the tooth
as if it were peg of wood. | have
no interest in the matter. The faint
glimmer of existence that still ilutters
within me is bent on keeping the finger
moving and | have "A consciousness
that it still moves. There is "A pull at
the peg that brings no pain, neither
does it interest me in the least. That
is the dentists affair. | will keep that
finger going, although / cannot feel it.
A rush in the ears proclaims returning
life. | shout
''I'll bet dollar the finger never
stopped"