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New York, 1942. Kathryn Crum, the wife of bandleader Eddie South, in the dental chair. Another of Albert Fenn's uncaptioned photos from the OWI archive. Now, Mrs. South, if you'll just open a little wider, this won't hurt a bit. View full size.
Only the pain in your ankles from when your feet crashed through the ceiling kept your mind off the agony that was happening in your mouth. I have fond memories of trips to the dental office back then. It only took two cops and my mother to undo my death grip upon a hydrant to get me inside.
I have a bunch of 1950s vintage fillings from a drill just like that. And on top of that Novocain wasn't used for any of them either.
The thought of having dental work done in 1942 makes me quake in fear. As late as the '90s, even simple dental procedures HURT!!!
Those low speed uncooled drills are manly drills, painwise.
The modern high speed water cooled drills that came in in the 60s are a piffle, nothing.
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