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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painless_Parker
He legally changed his first name to “Painless” when he was accused of breaking a false advertisement law by claiming that his dentistry was truly painless.[1][2] When business thrived, he hired assistants and established a chain dentistry business.[2] In the end, Parker ran 28 West Coast dental offices, employing over 70 dentists, and grossing $3 million per year.
The wild part is what’s cut off in the bottom section.
However, "Much of what he championed—patient advocacy, increased access to dental care, and advertising—has come to pass in the U.S.
So I guess, possibly not as bad as the opening line makes him sound, and perhaps even an improvement over the standards of the time
Some other choice sections.
The band attracted large crowds and hid the moans and cries of patients who were given whiskey or a cocaine solution that he called “hydrocaine” to numb the pain.[2] He charged 50 cents for each extraction and promised that if it hurt, he would pay the patient $5.
he Historical Dental Museum at the Temple University School of Dentistry has a display dedicated to Parker, with his necklace of 357 teeth and a large wooden bucket filled to the brim with teeth that he had personally pulled. The bucket of teeth sat by his feet as he lectured the crowds on the importance of dental hygiene.
Almost sounds like the guy may have been maligned by his fellow dentists for calling them out on their BS.
In 1892, a Canadian dentist called Edgar Parker
born Edgar R.R. Parker, 22 March 1872
DUDE WAS ONLY 20 WHEN HE STARTED THIS!?
To be fair, he didn’t exactly have to go to dental school or anything
Listen, if all you’re doing is extractions all you need is a spike, a hammer, some pilers, some elbow grease and a strong stomach.
Edit: turns out he did go to dental school though
Dental school back then was a little different I’m guessing
I pulled a tooth out of my dads face once with some fishing line and a scrap piece of wood
It was awesome
When the life expectancy is only 40 you gotta get a move on.
“Hurry up, I got a hot date with early death!” - Person getting tooth extracted.
That’s also where the concept of a “barbershop quartet” came from. Dentists would have the aforementioned quartet singing loudly outside of their shop to drown out the screaming of patients inside.
One might ask, “why the barber”? Well, they had the sharpest blades in town which made them the defacto surgeon, and before anesthesia, amputations involved at least as much screaming as pulling teeth.
In those days, asking your barber to “take a little off the top” ended in either circumcision or lobotomy.
Either way, hopefully they got a sweet coin as a souvenir.
lol right, I totally forgot to explain that barbers often did surgery and dentistry.
At least? I would have thought it was the other wag around, sawing off a leg off hurts at least as much as pulling a tooth?
I suppose it depends on how drunk your barber/dentist/surgeon/bartender got you beforehand… and how drunk they got themselves.
Drunk? Pass the laudanum
I love how street dentist is a blue link.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_dentistry
In 1998, a man was arrested in Van Nuys, California for operating an unlicensed dental practice out of the back of a toy store in a strip mall.
Honestly, as someone who’s lacked dental care for 15 years, while it surprises me “street dentist” is a term, what surprises me the most is that I’ve never considered trying to find one. Lol. I’ve pulled my own teeth, why did I never consider finding a shady dude to do it for me?
You can’t break the law of there’s no law to break.
Did the concept of “arracheur de dent” didn’t exist in North America?
Is that a French phrase or is it supposed to be a guy talking with the cotton and suction hose in his mouth?
Jhech
It is suppose to be a guy coming to local market to put out the teeth of however cannot pay for dentist. It would usually come with a band to hide the cry of the “patient” and would commonly lie by telling to be able to do it painlessly. Exactly like the qikipedia describe it.
A concept doesn’t become acceptable just because the French have a term for it. Usually that’s a red flag.
What if she’s into it?
It was still pretty common at that time in France. It’s not fine to pretend to be painless however it was a commun line in the trade. It has give us the saying “mentir comme (lying like) un arracheur de dent”.
