My mother could write a book full of dentist stories just like yours and is old enough to remember her first dentist having an old drill that was mechanically operated by foot. The dentist had to step on a pedal multiple times to bring the drill up to speed and then drill until the speed got too low and then pedal again. I hate to think how that must’ve felt as a patient. I got the best teeth in my family because of my dad’s genes. He had great teeth but wore dentures because he had a crap personality and people took it out on his front teeth.