Episode 0264

Hello everyone and welcome to English Pod. My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine and today we have a very painful lesson for you.

That's right. Today we're going to go to one of the worst places for me. We're going to go to the dentist.

Okay, so the person in this dialogue has a pain in their mouth in the tooth area. So let's take a listen to this dialogue and we come back, we'll be talking a little bit more about it.

What seems to be the problem?

Let's have a look.

Hmm, this doesn't look too good. I think we may have to pull out your wisdom tooth. It's pressing against your molars and that's one of the reasons you're experiencing so much pain.

First, we will take some X-rays and see what we're dealing with. I also noticed a small cavity up front here. So you are going to need a filling.

It could be that or maybe you are eating too many sweets. In any case, I'll administer an anesthetic and you won't feel a thing.

Alright, we're back and obviously we're going to take a look at a lot of vocab related to going to the dentist and experiencing a little bit of pain. So let's take a look at that in language takeaway.

Okay, first up in language takeaway today we have the root of the problem. It's a toothache.

That's right. We have a really bad toothache.

Okay, well ache means pain or soreness and tooth is your tooth. So, I could say, oh gosh, I have a really bad toothache.

That's right. That means your tooth or your teeth hurt. And basically you can combine it like a stomach ache or headache.

Backache.

Backache.

That's right. So usually when you have a toothache, you experience different symptoms, different things happen to you. What's one of these things, Marco?

Well, in this case the girl had a swollen cheek. Her cheek is swollen.

Ouch. So the cheek is the side of the face. It's usually where it's, it's a little bit pink. And when your cheek is swollen, it looks puffy. It looks bigger than normal.

That's right. So, for example, sometimes you fall and you hurt your finger and it'll get fat, and it'll get puffy as you say, it's swollen.

That's right. So anything can be swollen really, when you hit your toe on something hard and your toe later gets bigger, it's swollen.

That's right. So obviously her cheek is swollen and she has a toothache because apparently her wisdom teeth or her wisdom tooth is coming out.

Alright, so wisdom teeth are special teeth. I don't know if they actually have anything to do with wisdom, which means being smart.

Be wise.

Wise. But wisdom teeth are those four teeth in the very, very, very back of your mouth.

That's right. So these are the last teeth that come in or the last teeth that grow in your mouth. So I think usually you're 18 or 20 when they come in.

That's right. A lot of people experience these when they're older, maybe that's why they call them wisdom teeth because you're older and you're wiser. I had them when I was about 14, 13.

Oh, really?

So I was very young. But um, these come in in the very back. They're the furthest away from your, your lips.

Okay.

Very good.

So when they come in, sometimes there's not enough space and so they start to press against the other teeth in your mouth, specifically against your molars.

So molars are other teeth. These are also in the back of your mouth. You can tell which ones are molars, I believe, because they're flat on top. They look like a little square.

Those are the ones that you use to chew your food with mostly.

Exactly. They're not pointy like your front teeth. And so molars are in the back of your mouth. Wisdom teeth are in the very, very back of your mouth.

And um

Molars can be very sore when the wisdom teeth push against them. And so in this case, you will have to take your teeth out or the dentist will take your teeth out. But um, what's something we say when we talk about taking the whole tooth out?

Well, in this case, he's going to extract the tooth, but also he's going to extract the nerve and the root.

Okay, so nerves are parts of our bodies. We can't see them, but they help us feel things.

Mhm.

So maybe when someone hits me, the nerves in my arm, they tell my brain that it hurts. Well, we also have nerves in our teeth. And that's what we're talking about here. But what's this other thing? You talked about the nerve and

And the root.

Hmm.

It's very similar to a plant, for example. You're consider that your teeth are like plants and they have little roots that go into your gums and this is how basically you get teeth stay alive. They they are fed basically by your body.

Alright, so root like with a tree or a plant is the very bottom of something. And in this case, to extract means to take out or to take away. So the dentist will have to extract the root and the nerve. So that sounds pretty painful.

It's painful, but they have to do it, right?

So, when the dentist has to extract the tooth, and in this case, the nerve and the root and everything, in order for you not to feel it, he gives you special drugs. What are these drugs called?

These are called anesthetics.

Okay, so most people when they are having major surgery, they get anesthetics so that they can't feel anything. Remember we were just talking about nerves. Well, anesthetics make it so that you can't feel things through your nerves.

That's right. So obviously you don't want to feel the pain when somebody's pulling that tooth out of your mouth, so you get an anesthetic and then you don't really feel anything. You kind of feel something but you don't really feel pain.

Exactly. So anesthetic basically makes you numb.

Numb, that's right. That's the word numb.

Okay, so we've taken a look at a lot of vocab, molars, wisdom teeth, etc. Why don't we listen to the dialogue again and we'll be back in a bit with fluency builder.

What seems to be the problem?

Let's have a look.

Hmm, this doesn't look too good. I think we may have to pull out your wisdom tooth. It's pressing against your molars and that's one of the reasons you're experiencing so much pain.

First, we will take some X-rays and see what we're dealing with. I also noticed a small cavity up front here. So you are going to need a filling.

It could be that or maybe you are eating too many sweets. In any case, I'll administer an anesthetic and you won't feel a thing.

Alright, so the topic of today's lesson is toothache, but it's also basically about learning that you will have to have your tooth taken out. So, to say this we say to pull out a tooth.

Okay, so that's what the dentist said. I think we may have to pull out your wisdom tooth.

Oh, not good news.

Okay, so to pull out means to extract.

So just remember here this is a phrase that has pull out, out would be the preposition here. We wouldn't say pull off or pull at. We'd say pull out.

Like for example, you can pull out a hair or your hair.

Exactly.

Okay. So we're pulling out the wisdom tooth and the dentist first wants to take some X-rays to see what we're dealing with.

Okay, so to deal with something means to work on it or to um to have something to do with. And so in this case the dentist wants to know, is this serious? What are we dealing with here?

That's right.

And so he's trying to judge the situation.

So maybe uh what would be another scenario or another situation would you would say, I have to see what we're dealing with.

Well, in the case of the weather and the newsmen who report about the weather, uh maybe they see that a storm is coming but they have to look at the radars and the computer screens to see what they're dealing with. Is it a serious storm or is it a very weak storm? They have to evaluate.

That's right. Okay. Very good. So we're going to see what we're dealing with.

And then the girl I think knows that she hasn't really taken good care of her teeth and so she says, I guess that's what I get for not flossing or brushing my teeth.

So that's what you get or that's what I get. Here the pronoun changes, I, you, he. Um, that's what I get for not taking care of myself. This means it's my fault. I deserved it.

I deserved it.

I deserve these things. So I could say, Marco, that's what you get for not doing your homework. You got a bad grade on your test.

That's right. So it's basically a way of saying that's what you deserve. That's the consequence for your actions.

Exactly. Mhm.

Okay. And what about our last phrase?

Well, this is something that I hate to hear from doctors and dentists because usually it's a lie. A dentist will say before he gives you a shot or before he takes your tooth out, you won't feel a thing.

That's right. So he's basically saying you're not going to feel any pain.

But why do we say you won't feel a thing instead of you won't feel anything?

Okay. So you won't feel a thing or you won't feel anything. Both are correct, but I think it's more common to hear you won't feel a thing.

Mhm.

Okay, so why don't we go back? Let's take one last look at our dialogue and we'll be back in a bit.

What seems to be the problem?

Let's have a look.

Hmm, this doesn't look too good. I think we may have to pull out your wisdom tooth. It's pressing against your molars and that's one of the reasons you're experiencing so much pain.

First, we will take some X-rays and see what we're dealing with. I also noticed a small cavity up front here. So you are going to need a filling.

It could be that or maybe you are eating too many sweets. In any case, I'll administer an anesthetic and you won't feel a thing.

Alright, so talking about dentists and talking about wisdom teeth, you said that you still have all four wisdom teeth?

So you didn't need to have them taken out or pulled?

Right.

So, um, but did you ever have braces for example when you were a kid? Oh, yes.

Oh, you had braces?

I had a retainer, which is a device that you, uh it looks like a line across your teeth and it you you put it in usually at night, but sometimes during the day and it makes some space in your mouth. But I also had braces after that. I hated braces. I had them for two years.

Why did you hate braces?

Because they're uncomfortable. Well, they don't look very good, especially when you're a 13 year old girl and you want to look cute and you have this big metal thing in your mouth.

That's right. Did you have braces?

No, no, I never had braces. Actually it was kind of for a while. I think a lot of people thought it was cool to have braces.

Really?

Kind of like sometimes I wish I had glasses, uh because everyone I know has glasses.

Really?

Yeah.

Well, this is a really interesting topic and uh going to the dentist is always complicated. Maybe some of our listeners are dentists themselves or they can have or they have some stories that they can share with us.

Please let us know what you're thinking and share your dentist stories with us on Englishpod.com. We'll be waiting for you there.

Alright, we'll see you guys then. Bye.

Bye.

The English pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Increase in size with liquid or internal pressure.

Swollen.

One of four rearmost molars on each side of both jaws.

Wisdom tooth.

Have the experience of, undergo, feel.

To experience.

That is what one deserves for.

That is what one gets for.

To clean with a brush.

To brush.

To give or apply as a remedy or relief.

To administer.

Let's try that faster.

Increase in size with liquid or internal pressure.

Swollen.

That is what one deserves for.

That is what one gets for.

One of four rearmost molars on each side of both jaws.

Wisdom tooth.

To give or apply as a remedy or relief.

To administer.

To clean with a brush.

To brush.

Have the experience of, undergo, feel.

To experience.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Swollen.

I got a mosquito bite on my arm and now it's swollen.

Swollen.

Tim's leg is swollen from the infection.

Swollen.

Someone punched him yesterday, so his lip is slightly swollen.

Wisdom tooth.

I need to go to the dentist to get my wisdom teeth removed.

Wisdom tooth.

Wisdom tooth.

She couldn't eat for a few days after the dentist pulled her wisdom teeth.

To experience.

To experience.

Your chair is broken. That must be the reason why you have been experiencing so much discomfort.

To experience.

To experience.

I'm falling asleep at my desk. I guess that's what I get for staying up to watch the World Cup.

To experience.

To experience.

It is important to brush your teeth at least two times a day.

She is sitting in front of the mirror, brushing her hair.

He brushed the breadcrumbs off the table.

To administer.

The doctor administered some painkillers to me after my operation.

To administer.

The governor administers the law in this area.

To administer.

It is important for the government to administer justice.