General Listening Quiz

Listen to the recording on dental care and read along with the conversation. Review the key vocabulary and the sample sentences.

Patient: Hi. Dr. Hyde?

Dentist: So, what seems to be the problem today?

Patient: Well, I just came in for a check-up and a dental cleaning.

Dentist: Hum. Open up. Let’s take a look . . .

Patient: Okay. Uh . . .

Dentist: Hummmm. [Uh? Uh?] Wow! I’ve never seen one like THIS before. Let me try this.

Patient: Uhhh . . . Ouhhhh [Man screaming in pain . . .]

Dentist: Well, besides a lot of plaque buildup, there’s a major cavity in one of your wisdom teeth. [I feel that.] Hadn’t this given you any trouble?

Patient: Well, the tooth has been bothering me, and it sometimes hurts when I drink something cold. Does it look that bad?

Dentist: Well, we’re going to have to remove the decay, and then we need to put in a filling in, or if the decay is extensive, we can’t repair it, we might have to put in a crown on your tooth. Or as a last resort, we’ll have to extract the tooth.

Patient: Uh, well, that sounds painful!

Dentist: Don’t worry. I’ve done this . . . once before. [Huh?] Nah, just relax.

Patient: Wait! Aren’t you supposed to give me something to dull the pain?

Dentist: Uh, chicken. Oh yeah. I almost forgot. We can either use a local anesthetic or nitrous oxide . . . laughing gas. . . to minimize the discomfort you might feel. Or you can just grin and bear it.

Patient: Nah, Nah, nah, nah! Put me under! [Yeah, I thought so.] I can’t stand pain, and I’d rather not be aware of what’s going on. And, if I need a filling, can I get one that looks like my other teeth?

Dentist: If we can save the tooth with a filling, I recommend a high-strength silver alloy filling instead of the porcelain one. It’ll probably last a lot longer.

Patient: Okay, well whatever. Let’s get it over with.

Dentist: Okay, pleasant dreams. Drill, please.

• plaque (noun): a substance that builds up around teeth that can damage them
  – Brushing with toothpaste can help remove plaque.
• cavity (noun): tooth decay 
  – If you take care of your teeth, you can reduce the risk of having cavities.
• wisdom tooth (noun): the last of your back teeth to come in 
  – The dentist removed one of my wisdom teeth because it was bothering me.
• decay (noun, also verb): the gradual process of the tooth going bad, sometimes caused by poor dental care and eating habits 
  – If the decay in the tooth is not removed, it could lead to a serious problem.
• filling (noun): a substance inserted into a tooth to repair a cavity 
  – I need to get one of my fillings replaced because it came out yesterday.
• extensive (adjective): large in extent, range, or scope 
  – Researchers have conducted extensive studies on the causes and prevention of tooth decay.
• crown (noun): a metal covering over the enamel-covered part of a tooth 
  – The dentist suggested putting a crown on the tooth since the cavity would have been too difficult to repair with a filling.
• extract (verb): remove 
  – The dentist extracted the decayed tooth without a problem.
• dull (verb, also adjective): numb or make insensitive, deaden feeling 
  – I was shocked that the dentist didn’t give me anything to dull the pain.
• local anesthetic (noun): a drug used to dull the body’s senses from pain in a specific area 
  – The dentist used a local anesthetic on the patient before she extracted the tooth.
• nitrous oxide (noun): a gas inhaled as an anesthetic in dentistry and surgery 
  – Sometimes, dentists use nitrous oxide on patients when more extensive dental work is required or to help patients relax during certain procedures.
• discomfort (noun): pain or an uncomfortable feeling associated with a part of the body 
  – I went to the dentist because I felt a great deal of discomfort in one of my teeth.
• alloy (noun): a mixture of two or more metals 
  – Different alloy fillings may be used to fill cavities, depending on the severity and location of the cavity, as well as the patient’s preference.
• porcelain (noun): made of semi transparent ceramic 
  – Porcelain fillings may be used to fill cavities, depending on the severity and location of the cavity, as well as the patient’s preference.