the idiom which ends “like pulling teeth” is effective isn’t it? you can say it with feeling and you know just what it means. no elaboration necessary. it’s universal. and what single thing is the most “like pulling teeth?” why, actually pulling teeth of course. toothaches and methods of ridding oneself of them have bedeviled humanity since pre-history. everything from poppy seeds to demons to the dreaded toothworm were blamed. everything from amulets to spices to prayer to the application of a toad’s thighbone were tried as remedy. most of the time though a problematic tooth was simply knocked out, “a piece of hardwood or stone was placed against the tooth and struck with a rock or mallet.” anesthesia wasn’t available until the 1830’s! ouch. so just how deeply has the crucible of the tooth embedded itself into the human consciousness?
