Yes, why does the dentist ask all those questions about your medical history? You're at the dentist's right? Which means-not at the doctor's. So why should the dentist be so curious about allergies, heart troubles, broken bones, and so forth and so on? He's just a dentist-right?
    WRONG. "Just" a dentist doesn't fit at all. Consider, for a moment, the importance of your mouth. Consider the importance of your gums, teeth, and jaw. Not only do they make up a good deal of your face, giving it its particular structure and in a sense making you you, but they contribute significantly to the greatest pleasures available to mankind. Eating, drinking, laughing, kissing, conversation-you owe all of these lovely things to your mouth. Have you ever had a toothache? Of course you have; either that or you're very, very, very lucky, because there's no pain quite like tooth pain, no pain quite so invasive, annoying, and ever-present. With tooth pain you get terrible headaches, eating's no fun, nothing's fun. And what about gum disease? Even gums that are unhealthy in a minor way can drive a person up the wall. Swollen gums mean itchy gums, constantly itchy gums, once again there's a discomfort in your face of all places that you can't get rid of.
    And so on and so forth. It doesn't take much reflection to realize that your mouth is just like your heart, liver, arms, legs, etc.-that is, something of major importance to your happiness that you take for granted until it starts acting up. But when it starts acting up, boy, then you start acting up, and you can't get any rest until-that's right-you go to that blessed figure, the dentist. That's why the dentist asks you so many questions about your medical history. The dentists asks you questions about your medical history because he or she needs to know about any troubles you've had with the rest of your body, as there's a chance at least that those troubles could be further troubled by the trauma of getting tooth work done.
    And getting tooth work done is traumatic. So long as you've got a cavity to be filled, violence is going to be done to your face. Think about it. All those needles shoved half an inch into your gums, over and over and over if needed, followed by drills and more drills picking their way nimbly around a live nerve-you bleed, you spit, and afterwards it takes hours to recover-if it doesn't feel like a small deal, that's because it isn't, it's a big deal, and anytime any part of your body has a big deal, surgically speaking, to deal with, you can bet that little sirens and bells are going off all over the place, because if trauma affects one part of the body it's sure to affect another.
    For example, let's say you've had heart troubles in the past. Your dentist is asking you about your medical history. He or she says, "Here, fill out this form, it's about your medical history." And you start filling out your medical history and you're thinking what does my heart have to do with anything. Why should this medical history be asking about my heart. I'm here because I have a cavity, and now the dentist is asking me all sorts of questions about my medical history. So what if I've had heart troubles! We're talking about a cavity here for Pete's sake!
    Would you believe me if I told you that people have died from having a cavity filled? It's true, they have. To stick with the example above, your heart trouble means that you're going to have be on antibiotics while your tooth heals. Otherwise, there's a chance-a quite good chance-that the process of having even minor mouth surgery could infect your already weakened heart and then you've got a real problem on your hands.
    So don't grudge the dentist any details about your medical history. Your dentist asks for your medical history with your safety and comfort in mind. You can give your medical history to your dentist with confidence, knowing that your dentist is a doctor too, and like any good doctor wants to know his or her patient well before the violence (healing) begins.