Touche.

It's not the same thing because I don't have training to be a dentist, but I do have training and skills and knowledge for a variety of non-dentist mechanical, electrical, and electronic things. So this is a specious argument. Where does it end? Do I not do any work myself ever? Or are there things we can all agree some people are capable of doing?

I think the gatekeeping around all of this stuff from people is frankly kind of ridiculous. It's not like the battery repairmen are doing asbestos abatement naked in their living rooms while their families are watching TV. But people are treating it like the same thing.

Capability is fine but also goes hand in hand with risk. Working on lipo/li-ion cells is risky which is usually why such work is not zoned for residential areas. How would your skills and training translate into something a neighbor or inspector can understand? Would you resent them for questioning your non-dentist abilities? Is someone with no formal training but years of practical knowledge working on devices enough?

It seems like the questions from my end bend back toward proving yourself when a situation breaks, not when it works, which is what sometimes happens when you do work yourself. Have you heard the parable of the nuclear boy scout, David Hahn?

> I do have training and skills and knowledge for a variety of non-dentist mechanical, electrical, and electronic things.

A fundamental of expertise is knowing the terrain, what you can and can't do safely and reliably. A fundamental of knowledge is becoming aware of far more that you don't know; only in ignorance do we imagine there is little outside our personal boundaries.

Highly experienced professionals will tell me, 'I don't know how to do that, you should talk to ...', and will refuse to even venture advice. My doctor tells me to talk to a specialist. Naive, immature amatuers assure me they can do anything, and can diagnose and treat my medical condition via social media.

Don’t you? When there’s something wrong in your mouth, do you look in the mirror, use your tongue on it, use a toothbrush or floss or toothpick on the problem before going to see the dentist? Or do you feel pain in your mouth and magically you’re at the dentist without doing any of the above?

I don't bust out the drill or try to apply putty for a temporary tooth.

That is to say, yes, I can confidently exchange batteries (clean my teeth). I'm not confident in modifying those batteries with a welder/soldering iron.

If I clean my teeth and they still hurt you bet I'm going to the dentist.

For people who do this, it's more like changing batteries, than modifying them. You only put the batteries into the slots and attach metal wires to the ends - isn't that a lot like changing batteries already? The device which attaches the wires is simple to use: you press it against the connection, press the foot switch and it makes a little spark and now the wire is attached. If you know what you are doing, building a battery pack out of pre-fabricated cells is not scary.

Then what are they welding in the OP?

I don't see any pictures of welding happening in the OP. I do see a battery pack constructed with the usual spot-welded metal strips. The spot welder is the machine that you press against the connection, press the switch and it goes zap and you have a connection. It isn't especially dangerous, as far as I know. It uses a low-voltage high-current pulse to melt and fuse the metal only at the contact points.

Errors that may lead to a thermal runaway: Accidentally shorting a cell. Putting the cell in backwards. Putting a highly charged cell with discarded cells (or vica versa). Using a damaged cell. Any of these can happen rather easily, with potentially disastrous consequences to life and property.

Many things are dangerous. Use caution and have a backup plan (keep the area non-flammable and keep a bucket of sand nearby) and you'll be fine.

> Many things are dangerous.

That's not a rational response. Everything is dangerous. The issue is how dangerous they are.

Yes, sometimes, when it’s not convenient to utilize infrastructure where I am.

So far I have become adept at removing and replacing my own crown, including heavily modifying when needed, filling if they aren’t too deep (or temporary fillings if they are deep) and one extraction when I was at sea and had no better choice.

I don’t recommend it if it’s not necessary, but for those who may find themselves in that situation there is a book called “where there is no dentist” that outlines most common procedures and tool use. It’s worth learning if you’re likely to be away from “civilization “. Also “where there is no doctor “ can be a lifesaver.

You extracted your own tooth!? Woah. Speaking as someone who has seen people evacuated from Antarctica for dental issues, I'd like to read a blog post or something about that.

Of course, in such a case , you’ve likely waited (as I had) until the tooth is really bad. Despite antibiotics.

I think because of the infection it was quite loose, and prying a little with the elevator was all it took to get it to where it could pull it out with my fingers. If I had not had dental tools, it might have been much harder.

The pain is already really bad, yanking it out really wasn’t much worse than the steady state and once the nerves were severed it was instant reduction in discomfort.

Half a bottle of gin made it easier. The hard part was having to wait until the sea conditions were good enough that I felt like I could safely be numb-faced drunk.

Do trained dentists perform their own dentistry?