Una Visita dal Dentista Posted by Serena on Oct 14, 2011 in Italian Language
O.K. I know you all like to read my blogs about our wonderful landscapes, delicious food, and deeply rooted traditions, but sometimes we have to deal with some of the less pleasant realities of life. What happens, for example, if you’re on holiday in Italy and you have mal di denti? = tooth ache?
Don’t worry, here is Serena and Geoff’s guide to dealing with Italian dentists, inspired by Geoff’s recent visita dal dentista = visit to the dentist.
Firstly note that dentista is one of those words that doesn’t change its ending according to gender. We simply change the article to denote whether it’s a male or female dentist: il dentista (male) la dentista (female).
Now, what does a dentist look after? I denti = the teeth (singular il dente = the tooth). Yes, simpler than English: denti = teeth therefore dentista = ‘toother’.
So, let’s have a look at a bit of dental vocabulary taking Geoff’s experience as a starting point:
ieri Geoff aveva l’appuntamento dal dentista
yesterday Geoff had an appointment with the dentist
qualche giorno fa, mentre faceva colazione, ha sentito un fortissimo dolore ad un dente
a few days ago, while he was having breakfast, he felt a really strong pain in one of his teeth
una vecchia otturazione si era rotta, e il nervo del dente gli faceva così male che ha dovuto prendere degli analgesici
an old filling had broken, and the nerve hurt him so much that he had to take pain killers
all’ambulatorio, il dentista lo ha invitato ad accomodarsi sulla sedia reclinabile e ad aprire bene la bocca
at the surgery, the dentist invited him to sit in the reclining chair and open his mouth wide
poi gli ha chiesto dove gli faceva male mentre con uno strumento gli toccava gentilmente i denti
he then asked him where it hurt whilst gentle tapping his teeth with a surgical instrument
nel frattempo l’infermiera ha messo la radiografia, detta comunemente la lastra, sul light-box
in the meanwhile the nurse put the x-rays, commonly known as ‘the plate’, on the light box
individuato il dente colpevole, il dentista ha cominciato a prepararlo col trapano
once the guilty tooth had been identified, the dentist began preparing it with his drill
ha deciso che in questo caso non c’era bisogno di fare l’anestesia
he decided that in this case it wouldn’t be necessary to anaesthetise him
pulito il dente, ha chiesto all’infermiera la matrice, e di preparare l’amalgama
once the tooth was cleaned, he asked the nurse for the matrix (that thingy that they fit on your tooth when they do a filling), and to prepare the amalgam
siccome non aveva dato a Geoff l’anestetico, quando gli ha messo la matrice gli ha fatto un po’ male alla gengiva
as he hadn’t given Geoff an anaesthetic it hurt his gum a bit when he fitted the matrix
ha usato l’amalgama per fare la nuova otturazione
he used the amalgam to do the new filling
poi ha chiesto a Geoff di mordere una striscia di carta impregnata con inchiostro blu per controllare il contatto fra i denti
then he asked Geoff to bite on a strip of paper impregnated with blue ink in order to check the contact between his teeth
infine lo ha invitato a sciacquarsi la bocca
finally he asked him to rinse his mouth
e adesso la cosa più dolorosa: pagare la parcella!
and now for the most painful bit: pay the bill!
Key words:
l’appuntamento = the appointment
il/la dentista = the dentist
il dente / i denti = the tooth / teeth
la gengiva / le gengive = the gum / gums
la carie = tooth decay
l’otturazione = filling
un analgesico = a painkiller
l’anestetico = the anaesthetic
fare l’anestesia = to anaesthetise
la radiografia / la lastra = the x-rays
il trapano = the drill
l’amalgama = amalgam
apra la bocca = open your mouth, please
si sciacqui la bocca = rinse your mouth, please
l’estrazione = extraction
la placca = the plaque
l’ablazione tartaro = tartar removal
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Comments:
Jeannet:
Salve Serena & Geoff,
Some like/ wil get it ‘hot’! reading this story: ‘la visita dalla dentista’ – pfff…..
Espero non mi passe qualcosa sia in Italy
prossime semane! -crossing my fingers!
Saluti
Jeannet
Moira:
Dear Serena and Geoff
I really enjoy your blog, I started learning for fun while I was living in South Africa and then 2 years ago my husband and I moved to Mauritius and I had to start learning French!It was so confusing for me that I stopped all my Italian even listening to Italian music! I really missed my Italian lessons and speaking that beautiful languagee I was worried that I would forget everything I had learned and then I stumbled upon your blog, it is so wonderful to still be able to have some italian in my life without confusing the French thing too much. Thanks again your efforts are appreciated.
eduardo:
thank you very much ,Serena,for this wide vocabulary about dentist session