Originally Posted by zombietooth

Back in the day, all sailors had to have their wisdom teeth prophylactically removed before entering the submarine service (I guess tooth problems are the number health risk for the young, and you don't want to compromise a strategic deterrent patrol by having to surface for a medevac mid-patrol). I was told that I'd get the rest of the day off after they were pulled and that sounded like a great deal. Well, it was like a butcher shop in the open bay clinic. The dentists all had blood spots on their smocks, and simultaneous extractions were going on all around me. I was given novocaine only, so I heard and saw everything. At one point, two dentists were leaning heavily on my chest and prying as hard as they could to get some of the teeth out. They didn't even suture the wounds, which I found out later they should have after a blood clot filled my mouth later while riding on a city bus. People on the bus were looking at me and my bloody lips and I was very embarrassed. I only had a few napkins to wipe the blood away, so the ride back to the base was arduous. By the time I got back to the clinic, I could hardly breathe because the clot had become so big. The fix was simple though, they just grabbed a big wad of gauze and squeezed the clot into it and then, sutured me up and I was good to go.