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0:00Vanessa Prothe:
Do you have teeth? If so,
0:03this English lesson is for you. I got this
lovely email from my student Azra, who said,
0:09"I'm a dental student in Turkey. I love
communicating with international people,
0:15learning languages, and cultures. Can you help me
learn how to talk about the dentist in English?"
0:22Yes, Azra, I am here for you. And if you are
not Azra, I'm here for you, too. Today you are
0:27going to learn 30 important English phrases
to use at the dentist. You will also hear
0:34these in movies and TV shows, so, no matter
where you live, this is an important lesson.
0:40Hi, I'm Vanessa from speakenglishwithvanessa.com,
and like always, I have created a free PDF
0:48worksheet with all 30 of these important phrases,
definitions, sample sentences, and this PDF has
0:56something special for you. There is a 10-question
quiz at the bottom of the PDF worksheet, so that
1:03you can test yourself and see if you can really
communicate at the dentist office accurately.
1:09You can click on the link in the description
to download that free PDF worksheet today.
1:14Let's get started by talking about vocabulary
for a regular dental checkup, and then in the
1:21second section we'll talk about vocabulary for
dental problems. If you're visiting the US and
1:27you have a toothache, or you have a problem and
you need to get it fixed in the US, you are going
1:32to need that vocabulary, so stick around. Let's
get started with the first vocabulary expression.
1:37To make an appointment. "I need to make an
appointment with the dentist for next week."
1:44Or on the phone, you might say, "I'm calling to
make an appointment for next week." This means
1:51that you're just scheduling a time so that you
can go in and the dentist is waiting for you.
1:56Important expression number two is
a checkup or a routine appointment,
2:02and sometimes we even combine those and
say a routine checkup. So, when you call
2:07the dentist and say, "I would like to make
an appointment, please." They will ask you,
2:11"Why do you want an appointment?" And you
might say, "I just want a checkup." Or,
2:17"I would just like a routine appointment."
Here in the US, it's common to go to the
2:22dentist at least once a year. Sometimes the
dentist will say you need to go twice a year,
2:28but at least once a year for a routine appointment
is common. So you could say, "I would just like to
2:34come in for a routine appointment, please." Or,
"I'd just like to come in for a checkup, please."
2:41And what happens at a routine appointment?
Well, expression number three is to get your
2:46teeth cleaned. You might think your teeth are
fine, but the dentist has some special tools
2:53that they can use to make sure that your
teeth are actually clean and healthy. So,
2:58you might say, "I just want to get my
teeth cleaned." Or the dentist will ask,
3:03"Why are you here today?" You could say,
"I just want to get my teeth cleaned."
3:08While you're getting your teeth cleaned,
you're going to need the next expressions.
3:11You will hear the word gums. Yes, this is with
an S. This is not talking about chewing gum or
3:18bubble gum. This is talking about that
red skin, right here, above your teeth,
3:25your gums. The dentist will check to make sure
your gums are healthy. We never use this in
3:32the singular. The dentist is not going to say,
"Your gum is healthy." Instead, they will say,
3:38"Your gums are healthy." At least we
hope that's what they'll say, right?
3:43They will also check the enamel on your teeth.
The enamel is the hard coating around your
3:51teeth that should be really healthy if you're
going to have healthy teeth. So oftentimes,
3:56the dentist will polish the enamel on your teeth.
Well, maybe I said that wrong, because it's
4:02usually not the dentist who polishes the enamel on
your teeth, it is the dental hygienist. Sometimes
4:10we just call this person a hygienist. That is
the person who does most of the appointment.
4:16They will be checking your gums, cleaning your
teeth, polishing the enamel on your teeth,
4:22and then after you finish that part of your
appointment, who will come in? The dentist. So,
4:28the dentist will check to make sure that
everything is well, they will interpret the
4:33X-rays, if you had X-rays, and if you need to
have any more intensive surgeries or different
4:40things happening to your teeth, that is who will
do it, the dentist will do those types of things.
4:45There's an interesting expression that we use
that maybe explains why we say dental hygienist.
4:52We often use the phrase oral hygiene. Oral means
your mouth and hygiene means to keep clean. So,
5:00the dental hygienist is helping you to have
good oral hygiene. They want to teach you how
5:08to brush your teeth well, how to floss your
teeth well, and they are annually, or yearly,
5:14trying to help you have the best teeth
possible for the best oral hygiene possible.
5:20Of course, during your dentist appointment,
they will ask you to, "Sit back in the chair,
5:25please." These types of fancy
chairs you sit in and it goes...
5:33And you can lay flat. There are
bright lights above you. But you'll
5:36hear this phrase, "Sit back in the chair, please."
5:39Another thing that you will hear during your
dental appointment is, "Open wide." Ah. Now,
5:46the tricky thing is when the dental
hygienist has his or her hands in your mouth,
5:55they are asking you questions sometimes
about your life, different things going on,
6:00and how can you respond when they ask, "Oh,
how's your job going?" "[inaudible 00:06:05]."
6:09This happens all the time in the US and I want
to know for you, is it the same in your country?
6:14During your appointment, you might get x-rays.
I mentioned this before, and it is a common part
6:20of your routine checkup. It helps the dentist
be able to see more deeply into your teeth, and
6:25see if there are any problems that are starting.
We'll talk about those problems in just a moment.
6:30The dental hygienist will probably encourage you
to brush your teeth. In the US, we are told you
6:37should brush your teeth twice a day, in the
morning and in the evening. What's it like in
6:42your country? At the dentist's office, they will
use toothpaste to brush your teeth. This is the
6:48common paste that you put on your toothbrush at
home to brush your teeth, but there's something
6:53else that they often use in the dentist office,
and that is fluoride. This is a type of treatment
6:59that they will either brush or wipe on the
outside of your teeth, and it will help
7:05to coat your enamel to make it stronger and
more resistant to any cavities and problems.
7:11And finally, during your routine appointment
or your checkup, they will floss your teeth.
7:17Sometimes it's kind of uncomfortable,
in my opinion. I can floss my own teeth,
7:22but when someone else does it,
it kind of feels uncomfortable.
7:25But they will floss your teeth to
make sure there is nothing in them.
7:29And when you're completely done, you will need
to gargle. What is gargle? Gargle is when you
7:36have water in your mouth, and they will put
it in there, and you'll go... And then you'll
7:41probably spit it out. Sometimes they have
a little tool that's like a little vacuum,
7:46and they put that in your mouth and
you close over that little vacuum,
7:51and it sucks the water out. So, you might do
that, or you might just spit the water out.
7:56All right, we've talked about some
routine appointment activities,
8:00but what happens when you have a dental
problem? Let's talk about some vocabulary,
8:05because you might need to use this if you
live in the US, or you might hear this if
8:10you're watching a medical drama on TV or movies
or TV shows. These types of words come up a lot.
8:18The first dental problem is simply a toothache.
This is probably because there's some rotting
8:24that's happening in your tooth. Maybe something
got stuck there and it started to rot. Ugh! So,
8:30you might call the dentist and
say, "I don't know what's wrong,
8:33but I have a terrible toothache.
Can I make an appointment?"
8:37Another common dental problem is a sensitivity.
So, you could say, "I have a sensitivity in this
8:45tooth whenever I drink cold water. I don't know
what's wrong." This is a great time to see the
8:51dentist, because maybe there is a hole deep
into your tooth, even if it's really small,
8:57that's reaching the nerve, and that can
make your tooth feel really sensitive. So,
9:02if you have a sensitivity in any of your teeth,
it's a good idea to tell the dentist during your
9:07routine checkup, or make an appointment,
so that you can talk with a dentist.
9:12Another common problem is a cavity, or if
there are multiple of them, cavities. Notice
9:18the pronunciation of this. There is a T at the end
of this word, but in the US, we pronounce it like
9:24a D sound: cavity, cavities. And what's a cavity?
It's a hole in your tooth because some bacteria,
9:34from food or sugar, usually, got stuck in
your tooth, and you didn't brush it out well,
9:41and it started to rot at your tooth. This is a
common reason why you might get a toothache. And
9:46in the US, unfortunately, it is very expensive to
get a cavity filled. Usually they will scoop out
9:53that rotten part of your tooth, and they will fill
it with some kind of enamel filler. This is a very
10:00expensive process, but there are public clinics
that you can sign up for that do it cheaper.
10:06So, as I just mentioned, if you have a cavity,
what do you need to get in there? We call that
10:11a filling. So, you might say, "I'm going
to the dentist today to get a filling for
10:18the cavity that I have." That's the little
material that they put inside your tooth.
10:24"I need a filling." It's not the most fun
thing, right? But sometimes it's necessary.
10:30If your cavity is really bad, you
might need to get a crown. Oh,
10:35that sounds so exciting! You're a queen!
You're a king! You get a crown! Not exciting,
10:41not fun. A crown is like a little cap that goes
over the entire tooth. If your tooth is cracked,
10:49or if the dentist is worried that you might crack
your tooth because the cavity was so big, they
10:55will put a crown covering your entire tooth. Not
as exciting as becoming the queen or king, right?
11:05A dreaded reason to go to the dentist is
to have a root canal. Ugh! This means that
11:13they are taking out your entire tooth because
there is a problem. It's too rotten usually,
11:20and they have to extract the entire
tooth. Do you know what it's called
11:24underneath your gums? Because your tooth
is not just what you can see. Your tooth
11:29is like an iceberg. You can only see the
top, but underneath we call that the root,
11:35the root of your tooth. If you need to have a
root canal, it means they need to take all of
11:42your tooth out, including the bottom. The
drilling into your mouth sounds terrible.
11:50A similar idea, but not quite the same, is an
extraction, or a similar expression is to have a
11:57tooth pulled. Now, you might have an extraction,
or you might have a tooth pulled for other
12:03reasons, not because it's rotten. So, for example,
when I was a child, my teeth had some problems.
12:10Some teeth were not falling out naturally. Babies
have their teeth, or children have their teeth
12:16fall out, and permanent teeth come in. But for
me, some of my baby teeth were not coming in
12:24correctly, so I had to go into the dentist's
office and I had to have some teeth pulled.
12:31It wasn't because they were rotten. I didn't need
a root canal. Instead, they had to pull the baby
12:38teeth, and that way, the permanent teeth could
come in more correctly, and I guess it worked!
12:44The next dental problem is kind of a funny one. It
is your wisdom teeth. Now, why would wisdom teeth
12:51be a problem? We all want to be wise, right? If I
can't be wise, at least I can have wise teeth. In
12:59the US, it is common practice to take out what we
call your wisdom teeth. That's the teeth in the
13:06far back. And in the US they say that our modern
mouths are not big enough to hold those teeth,
13:13so we have to take them out so that you
don't have teeth problems later in life.
13:18I don't know how true that is in reality, but
it's a common practice. If you are a dentist,
13:23let me know in the comments if that's common
in your country, and if it's true or not,
13:28that we really do need to take out our
wisdom teeth to avoid other problems.
13:33When you get your wisdom teeth taken
out, like when I did in high school,
13:37I had to get anesthesia. Anesthesia. This is
a type of medicine, we could say, that makes
13:46it so that you don't feel what's going on. It
could be a local anesthesia, which is a shot,
13:53and they'll help to numb that area, or it
could be more general, and you fall asleep. So,
14:00when I had my wisdom teeth pulled, I fell
asleep. I was totally out of it when they
14:07pulled my wisdom teeth. But if you have a cavity
filled, you will just get local anesthesia called
14:14Novocaine. It's very common in the US. I know
some countries give no anesthesia for cavities,
14:20but in the US, it is common practice.
If you get a cavity filled in the US,
14:25you will definitely get a big shot with Novocaine,
so that you don't feel what they're doing.
14:31Another common problem with teeth is plaque.
Now, plaque can also be like an award,
14:37"I got a plaque at my job for selling so
many things." But this is a bad plaque.
14:44Plaque is a buildup on your teeth,
and when you go to the dentist,
14:49they will scrape off the plaque so that it
doesn't build up and cause other problems.
14:54Another problem is tartar. Tartar. You
will hear this during your regular checkup,
15:00the dentist or the dental hygienist will say,
"You have some tartar building up between these
15:07teeth." And that is hardened plaque. So, plaque
and tartar are common words that you will hear
15:13as problems during your dental checkup. And
you can also ask the dental hygienist this,
15:19"Do you see much plaque? Do you see much
tartar on my teeth?" And that will tell
15:24you if you're doing a good job taking care
of your teeth. Do you have good oral hygiene?
15:29I mentioned earlier that the dental hygienist
will check the health of your gums. Here,
15:35the skin here. What if you have a problem
with your gums? A common gum problem is
15:42called gingivitis. This is a crazy word.
Gingivitis is when you have a problem with
15:49your gums. It's really a bacterial infection,
and the dentist can help you to fix this,
15:55but you need to also take care
of your gums and your teeth.
15:59The final two dental expressions that we're
going to talk about today are how to help
16:05your teeth become better. The first one
is whitening. This is very controversial,
16:11I understand, but some countries really are
obsessed with whitening their teeth. There
16:18are different ways to do this. There's
dental ways at the dentist's office,
16:23there are home ways that you can do this, but
some countries really like to whiten their teeth.
16:31And our final expression is one also that helps
you to make your teeth better, so to speak,
16:36and that is braces. This is a rite of passage
in the US. When you are maybe 12 or 13,
16:46a lot of kids get braces. This
helps to straighten your teeth,
16:52and it also helps your jaw usually, so that
your teeth come together in a better way,
16:57and you have less jaw problems when you're
older, especially when you're really old.
17:03I had braces. I had braces for
a long time. It's so annoying,
17:09because you have to clean in each of those
braces. You can't eat an apple like this,
17:16because the braces might pop off. I hope
for my children if they need to have braces,
17:22I hope there's some more modern technology
that has happened since I was a kid to make
17:28that process easier for them. Who knows? But it
is really common in the US to get braces. So,
17:33I wonder for you, have you ever had braces?
Is it common in your country? I know a lot of
17:39these dental practices are cultural, so I'm
very curious to hear what it's like for you.
17:44Congratulations on learning these 30 important
dentist expressions in English. Don't forget to
17:51download the free PDF worksheet because you can
challenge yourself. Did you really understand
17:57and remember all of these dental expressions?
When you download that free PDF worksheet,
18:02you can take the 10 question quiz. Test yourself:
how well did you do? You can click on the link in
18:11the description to download that free PDF
worksheet today. It is my gift to you to
18:16help you really remember what you're learning.
Thanks so much for learning English with me,
18:20and I'll see you again next Friday for a
new lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye.
18:26But wait! Do you want more? I recommend watching
this video next, where you will hear me call the
18:32doctor's office to make an appointment. A lot
of the vocabulary you learned today, you will
18:38hear in that lesson used in real life. See if you
can understand it. I'll see you in that lesson.
