The Life of NHL Dentists • Hacker News Board

Re: The Life of NHL Dentists

#21

Post by pge » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 9:57 PM UTC

ben7799 wrote: post #14

psychometry wrote: post #5

Last I checked, college and professional women's leagues mandated face protection. Why don't men's?

There's a flipside in another sport. In Men's Lacrosse at the college level they wear helmets... in Women's Lacrosse helmets are not allowed, they wear ridiculous eye-cages instead. Their argument is that they have less contact allowed and don't need them. I think the real thing is trying to look better and/or culture like hockey. Women's college Lacrosse apparently is #2 for concussions after Men's Football. Men's L…

It is women’s soccer that is second only to mens football for concussion rate - see this article: https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/10/15/health/concussion-high-scho...

Having played men’s lacrosse and coached both boys and girls, my observation is that concussion-risk events in girls lacrosse are extremely rare, and not affected by helmets. The head trauma in the mens game is usually from intentional body contact and collisions, which are not allowed in the womens game. The occasional stick to the head happens but those are not (usually) violent enough to be a concussion risk. I would expect concussion rates in womens lacrosse to be similar but lower than a sport like basketball) and uncorrelated with the rate in mens lacrosse which is a much different game

Re: The Life of NHL Dentists

#22

Post by rhcom2 » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 9:58 PM UTC

krisgee wrote: post #18

bsznjyewgd wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not only that, but the NHL BANS full face protection unless you're recovering from an injury. (Ex-all star Dany Heatley spent most of his career wearing a comically big half-visor after suffering a serious eye injury, I wonder if he would've opted for a full visor if given the choice.) Some players already dislike the currently mandated half-visors (visors can distort vision, or fog up, etc.) and do weird shenanigans…

>There's also a fighting culture in North American professional hockey which would be destroyed by mandatory full face protection. Having grown up playing hockey in a pretty rough league that's not true. You just hook your hand under the back of the helmet and pull, it'll pop right off.

There was a recent rule change that bans players from removing their own helmet (but not their opponent's) before a fight and the threat of punching hard plastic doesn't seem to have stopped anyone.

Re: The Life of NHL Dentists

#23

Post by dang » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 10:06 PM UTC

mattigames wrote: post #15

evo_9 wrote: post #2

About 6 months ago I caught a full-swing of a stick to the right side of my mouth/jaw. Cracked my front right tooth in half and broke the next two right-most teeth at the gum-line, and cracked one of my lower teeth off at the top 1/4. Neither top teeth broken at the gum could be saved/or built up so they pulled them. I also had one of my lower teeth, left of center knocked out (yes left of center, I think the top por…

90%... so the total cost was around 100K? Global capitalism is a funny thing, here in my country with that money you could buy an apartment and have enough money left to get the exact same treatment you got there.

"Eschew flamebait. Don't introduce flamewar topics unless you have something genuinely new to say. Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: The Life of NHL Dentists

#24

Post by m463 » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 10:06 PM UTC

smacktoward wrote: post #13

Back in colonial times, a common part of two people getting married was the bride's father paying to have all her teeth pulled and replaced with a set of false teeth -- because the state of dental hygiene was so bad then that it was just assumed that she would lose all her teeth eventually, and that way the husband wouldn't have to bear the expense of dealing with it. It was a kind of dowry. I look at those photos an…

The barber pole was originally an advertisement for surgery and more.

If I recall, Red meant bloodletting, White meant teeth, Blue meant haircuts.

The Joe Rogan interview with Lindsey Fitzharris was a lot of fun. (also the interviews with elon musk, john carmack)

Re: The Life of NHL Dentists

#25

Post by roter » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 10:20 PM UTC

THansenite wrote: post #6

Playing rec league years ago, I had always played with a full cage. I decided to go with a half visor to be one of the cool kids. Went to my local shop and it was a bit more expensive than I had planned so I figured I'd wait until the next week to buy it. That week, I took two pucks to the cage. I never did go back to buy the visor.

I too play with a cage in a beer league. I'm used to the more limited visibility. I've seen too many horrors on the ice.

The puck has eyes of its own. It still seems to find my unprotected bits.

Re: The Life of NHL Dentists

#26

Post by evo_9 » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 10:34 PM UTC

rustybelt wrote: post #20

evo_9 wrote: post #2

About 6 months ago I caught a full-swing of a stick to the right side of my mouth/jaw. Cracked my front right tooth in half and broke the next two right-most teeth at the gum-line, and cracked one of my lower teeth off at the top 1/4. Neither top teeth broken at the gum could be saved/or built up so they pulled them. I also had one of my lower teeth, left of center knocked out (yes left of center, I think the top por…

Hearing this, all I can think of is how Zdeno Charing broke his jaw in multiple places in this year's Stanley Cup Final and was back the next game. Hockey players are insane.

Yeah that incident with Chara happened around the same time as mine; I had a playoff game a few nights later and played. I really love hockey so it takes a lot to keep me off the ice, which I guess probably seems pretty 'insane' to non-hockey folks.

One other thing... the night it happened, the game was at 10:30 and there really isn't anything the emergency room visit can do other than provide pain meds etc. So I just drove myself home and my wife kept bugging me to go to the hospital, but I kept telling her there really was no point. The worst part of that night was trying to sleep; I actually slept clinching a rag in my mouth to keep the tooth in position and to absorb blood from the rest of the damage. The pain of the open nerves was pretty hard to deal with too.

Didn't sleep much, easily the worst night of my life that I can think of. Fortunately I have an excellent dentist here in Denver (Icon Dental) and I was able to book an emergency visit for 8AM the next morning that night so I knew I just had to make it to morning.

Re: The Life of NHL Dentists

#27

Post by alkonaut » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 10:56 PM UTC

THansenite wrote: post #6

Playing rec league years ago, I had always played with a full cage. I decided to go with a half visor to be one of the cool kids. Went to my local shop and it was a bit more expensive than I had planned so I figured I'd wait until the next week to buy it. That week, I took two pucks to the cage. I never did go back to buy the visor.

I wonder why the 50/50 ones (visor top with cage underneath) aren’t more popular? Juniors/Women I think are required to wear regular cages but for recreational players you’d think more would wear that type?

I got a used pro players helmet from my team for $20 after the season (they sell off all their gear to fans) which is great bargain for a really nice piece of equipment - but I wouldn’t dare playing games with it because it’s a visor obviously. I look like one of the cooler dads at the 4year olds’ skate practice though.

Re: The Life of NHL Dentists

#28

Post by alkonaut » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 11:02 PM UTC

bsznjyewgd wrote: post #11

psychometry wrote: post #5

Last I checked, college and professional women's leagues mandated face protection. Why don't men's?

Not only that, but the NHL BANS full face protection unless you're recovering from an injury. (Ex-all star Dany Heatley spent most of his career wearing a comically big half-visor after suffering a serious eye injury, I wonder if he would've opted for a full visor if given the choice.) Some players already dislike the currently mandated half-visors (visors can distort vision, or fog up, etc.) and do weird shenanigans…

The “fighting culture” in the NHL (perhaps more in the AhL and college leagues?) can’t die soon enough. It’s already better than it used to be in the 80s and 90s but there is some way to go. A good first step would be actual match penalties for proper fights. It has worked elsewhere.

Re: The Life of NHL Dentists

#29

Post by gwern » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 11:13 PM UTC

koboll wrote: post #19

smacktoward wrote: post #13

Back in colonial times, a common part of two people getting married was the bride's father paying to have all her teeth pulled and replaced with a set of false teeth -- because the state of dental hygiene was so bad then that it was just assumed that she would lose all her teeth eventually, and that way the husband wouldn't have to bear the expense of dealing with it. It was a kind of dowry. I look at those photos an…

Source? That's an amazing fact

I've heard this before, but about England and only as something relatively rare: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/smile-a-perf...

Re: The Life of NHL Dentists

#30

Post by lawnchair_larry » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 11:21 PM UTC

rustybelt wrote: post #20

evo_9 wrote: post #2

About 6 months ago I caught a full-swing of a stick to the right side of my mouth/jaw. Cracked my front right tooth in half and broke the next two right-most teeth at the gum-line, and cracked one of my lower teeth off at the top 1/4. Neither top teeth broken at the gum could be saved/or built up so they pulled them. I also had one of my lower teeth, left of center knocked out (yes left of center, I think the top por…

Hearing this, all I can think of is how Zdeno Charing broke his jaw in multiple places in this year's Stanley Cup Final and was back the next game. Hockey players are insane.

Most people think it’s just a game, and are surprised or confused by this.

This isn’t a game to them, it’s their job, and one they fought hard their entire lives for. The system selects for elite talent from all over the globe that is wired to persevere at all costs. For the extremely few who make it to the finals of the top league in their sport, especially late in their career, they know they may never get another opportunity to capstone their life’s work. It’s beyond comprehension for them to just roll over at the finish line and let someone else take what is theirs.