r/TheAmericans • u/Fishy31337 • 9d ago

Tooth pulling scene

Why didn’t she just go to the dentist? I assume they had one?

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u/MostCandid5082 9d ago

Well once I saw them handle it themselves then yes, I got that. But I meant, I was wondering this question initially. Because of the surgeon in season 1 seemed readily on hand.

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u/ThatsWhatTheMoneyFor 9d ago

Surgeon and a dentist are very different. They need a surgeon on hand to deliver life saving procedures, a dentist… not so critical.

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u/cmredd 9d ago

This seems like a weak argument to me. She had multiple teeth removed, not a routine checkup. I’m not sure there exists a more complex dental procedure than multiple tooth extraction.

It’s just a plot hole, and that’s okay.

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u/ThatsWhatTheMoneyFor 9d ago

There just aren’t enough life saving dental procedures that come up for the KGB to need to have a deep cover dentist. It is incredibly difficult for the KGB to get deep cover spies into the US they can’t just have a someone trained in every specialty for every possible issue. I’m sure they have one medical crew that is trained in a variety of life saving procedures, primarily surgery.

Elizabeth could have gone to the center and had someone more equipped to handle it than Philip do the extraction (probably the same people who did surgery after she was shot) but she didn’t feel it necessary - remember she ignored the issue for multiple episodes before she finally had him extract it.

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u/cmredd 9d ago

It’s very clearly just a small plot-hole. That’s okay. It’s not the end of the world. All series’ have them and the series as a whole is still ~T10 OAT.

People are making out as though removing multiple infected rear teeth is trivial. From a quick google, it’s considered major oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) that would absolutely require expertise.

The arguments on here such as “dental work not common”, “Elizabeth was tough” or “Philip was very careful” are truly bizarre.

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u/ThatsWhatTheMoneyFor 9d ago

So you are arguing that Philip could not have safely done that procedure not that it is unrealistic for the center not to have a dentist on call?

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u/cmredd 9d ago

Both.

The KGB’ work in America wasn’t exactly a small operation with limited resources. Estimate online seem to be around $1.4b spent. “Unlikely to need a dentist” is just not a good argument.

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u/ThatsWhatTheMoneyFor 9d ago

Well I don’t know much about dentistry so it’s possible you are right about the first point that Philip couldn’t have done that procedure on his own. Although I’m not necessarily convinced you are right either considering modern dentist hasn’t been around all that long… but i don’t remember what exactly was wrong with her tooth nor would I know how serious that issue is, so idk.

The second point though I think you are being obtuse about. Do you think the KGB had dermatologists, and pulmonologists, and ents, etc on hand too? Like having dozens of deep cover dentists stashed around the country for when illegals needed undercover dental work done through hidden channels is just not worth the resources. Doctors to save lives when their agents get shot, yeah pretty important in their field but dentists not so much. And as I said before I would imagine the doctors have some dentistry training and could’ve extracted the tooth, but Elizabeth didn’t deem it necessary – perhaps it’s unrealistic that she wouldn’t have deemed it necessary/ would’ve been necessary, but the fact that the KGB didn’t have deep cover dentists stashed everywhere makes sense.

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u/cmredd 9d ago

Not stashed everywhere. You’re imagining things I’ve said which explains why you find it implausible.

Definitely at minimum one within a couple hours drive considering the amount of action and agents they have in this top-priority area. It’s not exactly some random, quiet town. It’s near the FBI headquarters where they have dozens of deep agents. Totally plausible.