Dentists and the number 16. Why? I'm pretty sure this one might not be just me, as this has gone on across two states now. Vicodin? 16 tablets. Pen VK? 16 tablets. Cleocin? You've guessed it. Over and over and over again, the magic number is 16, but only from the people who make their living poking around in your mouth.
My first theory is some sort of 4 day rule. Maybe it's in the Dentist's bible that most of their procedures can heal up in 4 days, but..... if that's the case, why is the Vicodin prescription written to be taken every 4 hours? And what magical property of antibiotics would make it standard procedure to use them for 4 days in dental work when the most common length for everything else is 10?
No, there must be another explanation, the number 16 is obviously the key to unlocking the secrets of an evil cult of dentists.
Think about it. There are 32 permanent teeth in humans, which is 16 x 2. Do I really need to say anything more?
Or maybe it is just me. I think that's a good ending for this series. Maybe it's just me.
15 comments:
The number 16 is actually the highest a Dentist can count. So, since they can only count to 16, they think that everyone else has the same problem, and thus they make everything out for 16...
There is absolutely no Dental Cult bent on world domination, that is communicating to its members with an elaborate code that uses drug names and the number 16 to relay messages using the pharmacy as unknowing patsies... that would just be silly!
I think you have stumbled upon the Dental Da Vinci Code. You have a great mind, Drugmonkey. I stand in awe of your greatness.
MJ
you've made me giggle. thanks!
I think you're right, DM. Sixteen seems to be a charmed number for the dental trade. Now, the oral surgeons are another matter. They almost approach rationality with their prescribed quantities. It seems to me, and I'm trying to remember back to the days I actually filled prescriptions instead of keying in chart orders, the ER docs had a fondness for the number 12. Or maybe the dementia is just effing with me. Oh, look, a windmill....
well, a lot of times with the antibiotics, they take 4 one hour prior to a dental procedure, and the dentist just gives them enough for 4 procedures, ego 16.
Have you heard that dentists have the highest suicide rate of any profession? Probably due to their connection with satan.
The antibiotics usually make sense, because it's usually amox 500 4c 1hr prior to appt and it'll last em a couple appointments with 16...
...But aside from that I wonder sometimes if they just use 16 cuz they only have half a clue what they're doing.
Aside from a NP with a habit of writing for cough meds that don't exist, probably 99% of rxs we get for non-existent meds come from the dentists around here.
thought of you last nite as i was counting SIXTEEN vicodin from a dentist, and then later when a lady of ethnic descent failed to mention that she uses several aliases, any of which could be the clue to actually finding her Rx.
I think it has something to do with the fact that humans have a total of 16 fingers and toes, not counting the thumbs and big toes.
Rumor has it (according to Jewgirl) that it's your b-day, congrats and enjoy!
As Seinfeld once would say....all I really did was manage to stay alive one more year.....
But thanks for the b-day greets.
happy birth day!!!!
OMFG birthday!!
Specialties have their teddy bears, and drugs have their eras. Why do OB-GYNs love Fiorinal, especially when butabarbital is secreted in breast milk and aspirin is, well, aspirin? What ever happened to the Geocillin and Spectrobid maniacs? Remember the Ceclor decade? (Well,maybe you don't.) I had a dentist who must have owned interest in the one-hit wonder Dolobid (diflunisal). Talk about eras--do women still demand Retin-A for wrinkles? Nope, we've got Botox now. Live and learn, live and yawn.
irrelevant but hilarious:
http://profile.ak.facebook.com/object/1037/79/n2225763930_38885.jpg
Yesterday a dental patient gave me an Rx for Clindamycin (I forget the strength) #21, 1 tab bid for 7 days.
For a millisecond I thought I was screwing up my multiples of 7. I called the dude up and he told me to change it to #15, 1 tab today, then 1 tab bid for the next 7 days.
...umm okay... I wonder why he changed his mind.
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