Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 503, Seeing a Dentist.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 503.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Our website is Go there to download a learning guide for this episode that contains all of the vocabulary definitions, sample sentences, additional definitions, comprehension questions, cultural notes and, most importantly, a complete transcript of everything we say on this episode.
This episode is about doing something I love to do going to see the dentist and It'll be a dialogue between Dr Chung and Luis about some work that Luis needs to have done on his teeth.
Let's get started.
Hello, Luis.
I'm Dr. Chung.
You're here for a checkup and a cleaning.
Is that right?
Yes, that's right.
Okay, let's take a look.
Have you had your wisdom teeth taken out?
No, I haven't.
Hmm, you may need to do that soon.
You've had a root canal?
Yes, about three years ago.
Does that hurt?
Ow!
I guess I hit a nerve.
The bad news is that you may need another root canal soon.
Let's see if you have any cavities.
Oh, I think there's one here in your left molar.
You'll need to come back for a filling.
Are you experiencing any sensitivities?
Yes, I am.
I'm not surprised.
Your gums have receded and some of the root is showing.
Do you use dental floss?
Um, yes.
I'll have the dental hygienist show you how to brush and floss better so you can prevent the buildup of plaque and tartar.
Any questions for me before the hygienist starts on your cleaning?
No, I'm just glad you didn't say, I need dentures.
No, you don't.
Not yet.
Our episode begins with Dr Chung introducing herself to her patient, the person she is taking care of, Luis.
She says, Hello, Luis.
I'm Dr. Chung.
You're here for a checkup and a cleaning, is that right?
Typically every six months or so, it's recommended that you go to a dentist and get a checkup.
A checkup is another word for an exam, where a dentist or a doctor looks at your general health to see if there are any problems.
A dentist will look at your teeth to make sure that there aren't any problems inside your mouth.
A cleaning is when a dental professional...
It could be the doctor, but more typically it's someone who works with the doctor, someone we would call a hygienist comes and cleans your teeth, removes anything on your teeth that shouldn't be there.
Luis says, that's right.
Yes, I'm here for a checkup and a cleaning.
Dr. Chung says, okay, let's take a look.
Let's look at you.
Have you had your wisdom teeth taken out?
Your wisdom teeth are the four large teeth that are in the back of your mouth.
They usually begin to appear in your late teens or early 20s.
Many people need to have these teeth removed because there isn't enough room in their mouth.
Except me, I have a big mouth, so at least that's what my mother told me.
Well, to remove these teeth means to have a special surgery, and it can sometimes be a little painful.
So this is what your wisdom teeth are.
I'm not quite sure why they're called your wisdom teeth.
I suppose you don't get them until you're older and we hope a little wiser, a little smarter.
Luis says...
I haven't, meaning I have not had my wisdom teeth taken out.
To take out means to remove.
Dr Chung says.
Then she says A root R-O-O-T canal is a procedure which can be painful, where a dentist takes out a damaged part of your tooth that is below the skin, so it's actually inside of your mouth, and the dentist will often have to make a hole in your teeth in order to repair the damage underneath your teeth.
I've had a couple of root canals.
They're not fun.
I wouldn't do one just because it feels good.
In fact, it doesn't feel very good at all.
The root is the bottom of your teeth That word root is also used with a tree or a plant.
And that refers to the part of the tree or the plant that is below the ground, that is in the dirt.
So your root for your teeth are underneath the skin.
Canal here just means a hole.
Luis says that he had a root canal about three years ago.
Dr. Chung touches the tooth where the root canal was and asks, does that hurt?
And Louis says, ow, which is how you express pain, at least in English.
Dr. Chung says, I guess I hit a nerve.
The nerves of your body are the parts that carry messages to your brain, sending information about pain, about temperature, about touch.
It's something that, if you touch it and there's a problem with the nerve, if the nerve is damaged, it can be very painful.
Dr. Chung says the bad news is that you may need another root canal soon.
Even though he had a root canal.
That was supposed to fix the problem the first time.
It didn't, and now he has to have another root canal.
Lucky Luis.
Dr. Chung also says that she wants to look at Luis to see if he has any cavities.
Cavity, C-A-V-I-T-Y, is a small hole, in this case a small hole in a tooth.
And if you don't fix the hole, if you don't fill in the hole, put something there, it could damage or hurt your teeth.
In fact, Dr. Chung says that Luis has to come back to her office to get a filling.
A filling is a small amount of metal that is put into this little hole, this cavity, to cover and protect the teeth so that they are not damaged further.
He has a cavity here.
In his left molar, M-O-L-A-R, your molars are your large teeth.
They don't have a pointed top on them.
They're usually, well, they're always in the back of your mouth.
We use these for chewing our food.
So he has a cavity in one of his molars.
The doctor then asks him, are you experiencing any sensitivity?
Sensitivity in this case would mean some sort of pain when you touch something.
Even if you just touch it very lightly, you just barely touch it you could have sensitivity and that would cause pain.
Luis says, yes, I am, meaning I am experiencing this painful sensitivity.
Dr. Chung says, I'm not surprised.
Your gums have receded and some of the root is showing.
Don't you use dental floss?
Your gums in your teeth are the pink skin that covers the bottom of your teeth.
When we say something has receded, we mean that it has moved back or pulled away from something else.
So if your gums are in a poor condition, one thing that can happen is that the gums begin to pull away from the teeth to go down, and that can cause problems.
One of the problems is that some of the root of the tooth could be exposed, and that can cause pain.
The root is the part, remember, of the tooth that is below the surface that you can't normally see.
Dr. Chung asks Luis if he's using dental floss.
Dental floss is a long piece of thin string that you usually hold between your two fingers and you move it in between your teeth in order to clean your teeth.
It's something you would do in addition to brushing your teeth which, of course, is to take a small toothbrush and move it back and forth against the front and back of the teeth to clean them.
Floss is something that goes in between the teeth.
Luis says he uses dental floss, though we're not quite sure.
Dr Chung then says I'll have the dental hygienist show you how to brush and floss better so you can prevent the buildup of plaque and tartar.
A couple of different words there.
First, the dental hygienist is the person who works with the dentist, who is not usually a doctor whose job it is to clean your teeth and to check your teeth.
The dental hygienist is going to show Luis how to brush and floss better so he can prevent the buildup of plaque and tartar.
Buildup means accumulation.
When you have a little bit of material and you keep adding over a long period of time a little more and a little more and a little more, that can happen on your teeth.
It can happen with two things called plaque, P-L-A-Q-U-E, and tartar, T-A-R-T-A-R.
Plaque is a thin layer of food and bacteria that covers your teeth after you eat.
That you need to remove after you eat with a toothbrush.
Otherwise, it can damage or hurt your teeth.
Tartar is a hard yellow layer on your teeth.
When you do not remove the plaque regularly, then you can get this yellow layer, and that's why some people have yellow teeth, because the plaque has built up so much that it has now become tartar.
By the way, I'm not a dentist, so I hope I got that explanation right.
Dr. Chung says, any questions for me before the hygienist starts on your cleaning?
And Luis says, no, I'm just glad you didn't say I need dentures.
Dentures are basically false teeth, fake teeth, artificial teeth that you wear instead of your real teeth.
So...
Dr. Chung is not saying that Louise's teeth are so bad he needs dentures.
She says not yet meaning.
If you don't change your ways, it may be something you need in the future.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Hello, Louise.
I'm Dr. Chung.
You're here for a checkup and a cleaning, is that right?
Yes, that's right.
Okay, let's take a look.
Have you had your wisdom teeth taken out?
No, I haven't.
Hmm, you may need to do that soon.
You've had a root canal?
Yes, about three years ago.
Does that hurt?
Ow!
I guess I hit a nerve.
The bad news is that you may need another root canal soon.
Let's see if you have any cavities.
Oh, I think there's one here in your left molar.
You'll need to come back for a filling.
Are you experiencing any sensitivity?
Yes, I am.
I'm not surprised.
Your gums have receded and some of the root is showing.
Do you use dental floss?
Yes.
I'll have the dental hygienist show you how to brush and floss better so you can prevent the buildup of plaque and tartar.
Any questions for me before the hygienist starts on your cleaning?
No, I'm just glad you didn't say I need dentures.
No, you don't.
Not yet.
The script for this episode was written by someone who's so smart I think she has extra wisdom teeth.
Dr Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Say.
Hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2009 by the Center for Educational Development.
