I got one wisdom tooth extracted today. Last time I did this was ~30 years ago. The only thing that improved between then and now was that the payment process got streamlined.
Well, some things have changed in the past 30 years. I was seeing a dentist who was decidedly much older than me back then, and my current dentist is a bit younger than me. Also, X-rays were done with film back then, and now they have these fancy sensors that don't require films, so less environmental waste, and doctors can pretty much just do an X-ray whenever they feel like. With these timely X-rays, my dentist has been constantly telling me about a growing cavity on my wisdom tooth, which he had no interest in patching because he would rather just extract that wisdom tooth.
I recognize that the wisdom tooth is a problem, but it's just really hard for me to get motivated about voluntarily losing a tooth. I finally caved today, can't say what made me change my mind other than it seemed like a good idea at the time. I signed some wavers and off we go. The dentist estimated that it would take about 45 minutes, and he got it out in exactly 45 minutes. There was nothing pleasant during those 45 minutes, it sucked in exactly the same way as I remembered it 30 years ago.
And then I paid for the thing, a contactless process thanks to NFC on the credit card, which definitely wasn't a thing 30 years ago. I have saved a few seconds without having to carry gobs of cash, wow.
Some things just haven't progressed as much as others.
(I would have inserted a picture of a bloody tooth here, but I doubt anyone wants to see it)
Previous (2026-07-27): ICFPc 2026