In an earlier post I mentioned that I had to have a “medical procedure” last Friday. When the doctor told me what he was going to do I’m sure my eyes rolled back in my head as I asked, “Is it gonna hurt? It’s gonna hurt, isn’t it?”

He joked and said, “We’ll give you a bottle of whiskey and a stick to bite on.”

That was when I told him about my great grandmother on my mother’s side of the family. She had bad teeth. Real bad teeth. My great grandfather contacted the dentist in the county. One day he rode out to their house on his horse. Strapped to the side of the horse was a bag containing his dental tools and a folding chair. –Not an ordinary folding chair. It was a sure-nuff dentist chair.

He unfolded the chair and set it up on their front porch. Opened his bag and laid out all of his dental equipment. Lastly, he pulled out a bottle of whiskey and handed it to my great grandmother and said, “Drink this.”

After the “numbing” took place he helped her into the chair and started pulling teeth. It took a while, but he managed to pull all of her top teeth before giving her a breather. During this break she went inside and cooked him dinner. (Nowadays it would be called lunch.)

After his dinner settled my great grandmother resumed her place in the chair and he proceeded to pull her bottom teeth.

I told my doctor, “Now I have some tough women in my family tree, but I’m not so sure I inherited their genes.”

He laughed and told me I’d be fine. I lived through it, but it wasn’t fine. I should have gone there in a taxi and taken my own bottle of whiskey. It ouched for a day and a half.

That being said, while going through some old papers yesterday I came across this picture of Winston County’s Dr. McGraw and his dental chair. I have no idea if he was the one that pulled my great grand’s teeth, but the time frame would have been about right.

We’ve come a long way, baby. – Thank heavens.

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Rick Algood
January 27, 2017