[originaltext]M: Good evening and welcome to "Hardlife", the program that talks

M: Good evening and welcome to "Hardlife", the program that talks to ordinary people about their jobs. Today’s guest is Barbara Currie, who’s a dentist. Welcome, Barbara.
W: Thank you.
M: I suppose I should start by asking you how you became interested in dentistry.
W: Well, I suppose it started when I was eight. I smashed my front tooth and the dentist put in a gold one, which I thought was wonderful. I had it until I was 17.
M: And you’ve been a dentist for ten years or so?
W: Fifteen now.
M: Would you say that dentistry is still a man’s world? I mean, I can’t remember ever having a woman dentist in my life.
W: Well, it used to be a totally male profession. It’s getting better, but you still find only a few women who own their own practices. Most of them are junior partners or employees in a man’s business.
M: In your experience, is it common for people to be frightened of the dentist?
W: Yes, that’s common. Some people are even frightened of coming into the room. I have to go through a long process of getting them to come in, walk around, sit down and then leave.
M: You mean you don’t actually do any work on their teeth?
W: That’s right. Sometimes, if people are scared, the first thing is simply helping them to feel a bit more comfortable with the place. M: Would you say you enjoyed your work?
W: Yes, I think so on the whole. But I’m still not used to some of the horrors I see when people open their mouths, and bad breath is not pleasant to deal with. Another thing that I find difficult is the noise of the drill. But laser treatment is now doing a lot of work we had to use the drill for, so now it’s not so much of a problem.