Not that this defends anyone, but the original dentist talking about "fives" may not have been talking about teeth, but rather a measurement. That metal pole that they shove into your gums is a measuring stick, and they're checking to see how much the gum is pulling away from the teeth. If you're getting fives (five millimeters of depth), you ain't doin' so good. Ones and twos are the best numbers, which mean that your gums are hugging your teeth nicely.

*edit* Forgot to add that high numbers indicate the existence of gingivitis and/or periodontal disease */edit*

The second dentist was probably actually counting your teeth, since they often refer to them by tooth number (one through 32). Sounds like he was checking and tooth one was okay, as was two, and three, and four, and... hey! Jump like that again when I've got tools in your mouth, and you'll have problems, buddy! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 11-05-2004, 04:00 PM: Message edited by: Bungleau ]

Ack, military doctors/dentists....had my fill of them as an air force brat and I know what you're talking about!

I love my current dentist. He did about 2 hrs of surgery to remove 3 of my wisdom teeth and even though that's the worse story I have for dentists, it was still not as bad as I've heard from others! I had my first out as an emergency pull, so I know what you mean , aleph...OUCH!

[ 11-05-2004, 04:03 PM: Message edited by: Cloudbringer ]

No no, she specifically said my upper left and right, and the lower left and right number five teeth were non-existent, and that there is even no room for them to grow. Make no mistake, I did not misunderstand this malcompetent buffoon.

Hmmm... well, I know that here in the US, you only have one number five tooth. The others would be 12, 21, and 28. Perhaps things are different where you are....

And for what it's worth, I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed at the same time... by Doctor Fear [img]smile.gif[/img]

He asked if I wanted anasthesia... I said "Knock me out!". When I counted down from 100, I got to 93 before they started taking the cotton out of my mouth and waking me up :D

Being a big mouth salesman, all mine came in fine :D

I do have to go and get some root work canal done. I had 3 crowns put in and 2 are infected 'cos the dick didn't do the root canal at that time. He also didn't install one of them correctly and I've chipped 4 pieces off in my sleep. It's a shame I don't live near him anymore, but very lucky for him, the dick!

Yes, things are different, here they count from number 1 lower left, right or Upper left right(the front 4 teeth).