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Talking about the dentist

Episode 260501 / 01 May 2026

(Photo: Getty)

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Introduction

Neil and Becca have a real conversation in easy English about the dentist – the person we visit to check the health of our teeth. Learn to talk about why we wear braces, what fillings are for, and where to go if you have toothache.

Vocabulary

check-up
visit to the dentist to check the health of your teeth, or to other health professionals to check for other health issues

toothache
pain in your tooth

filling
material used to fill a hole in your tooth 

braces
devices, often made from wire, used to straighten or reposition teeth

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Transcript

Neil
Hello and welcome to Real Easy English. In this podcast, we have real conversations in easy English to help you learn. I'm Neil.
 
Becca
And I'm Becca. You can find a video version of this podcast with subtitles on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.
 
Neil
Hi Becca. How are you?
 
Becca
Yeah, I'm really good, thanks Neil. How about yourself?
 
Neil
I'm very well, thank you. Your teeth are looking very bright today.
 
Becca
Oh, well thank you. I recently went to the dentist, um, and I had a very good clean at the dentist.
 
Neil
Wow! Well, we're talking about the dentist today.
 
Becca
Oh really?
 
Neil
We are, yes. Do you like going to the dentist?
 
Becca
Does anyone like going to the dentist? It can be a bit scary sometimes. How do you feel about the dentist?

Neil
Um, well, I haven't been to the dentist for a long time.
 
Becca
When was the last time that you had a check-up at the dentist? A check-up is when you have your teeth looked at by the dentist.
 
Neil
Um, well, I haven't had a check-up for a while, um, but the dentist said my teeth were OK. There were no problems and, um, I don't have any toothache, so I don't feel like I need to go.
 
Becca
Right. And a toothache is when you feel pain in your teeth. Yeah.
 
Neil
Have you ever had anything done to your teeth?
 
Becca
I have, yeah. So, when I was 13, I had braces put on my teeth. And so, braces are, kind of like a wire that go across your teeth, um, and you have them done because they help to straighten your teeth.
 
Neil
My daughter had braces and they came off about a year ago, I think. Yes. It's funny when the braces come off because they... the kids look different! You're used to seeing them with braces.
 
Becca
Yeah, yeah. It's also really lovely to see a straight smile as well, with lovely straight white teeth.
 
Neil
Lots of people don't really like the dentist because they have to go in for a filling. What's a filling?
 
Becca
A filling – I've never had one. But a filling is when a dentist will fill a hole in your teeth with some kind of material. And usually that hole can get bigger over time if you, for example, have too much sugar in your diet. So I'm surprised that I've never needed a filling because I love sugar. Have you ever had a filling?

Neil
I had a filling in a baby tooth. And we sometimes call baby teeth 'milk teeth' as well. Those are the first set of teeth you have that fall out when you're still very young. But since then, I have never had a filling.
 
Becca
Have you ever had a really bad experience at the dentist?
 
Neil
Well, when I was really young, I had to have a piece of gum removed. Gum is the pink bit that your teeth come out of. I had to have that cut away, and that was very painful. I had an injection. The injection was more painful.
 
Becca
Oh, it is sometimes, isn't it? Was it an injection to make you – or to help you not to feel...
 
Neil
Yes.
 
Becca
...the gum coming away? So, it is necessary that you have that injection or it will be really, really uncomfortable.
 
Neil
Time now for a recap of the vocabulary that we heard in this episode, starting with check-up. A check-up is when you go to the dentist for the dentist to check the health of your teeth.
 
Becca
Yes, and we also had toothache. Now, you'll go to the dentist when you have a toothache. An ache is a pain. So, a toothache is a pain in your teeth.
 
Neil
We also heard the word filling. A filling is a piece of material which is put into a hole in your tooth, and you get the hole in your tooth if you don't look after your teeth properly.
 
Becca
We also had braces. And braces are something that you attach to your teeth to help put them in the correct position or straighten them.

Neil
That's it for this episode of Real Easy English, but don't forget to test what you've learnt with the free worksheet that's on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.
 
Becca
And we'll be back next week with another conversation in real, easy English. But for now, it's goodbye.
 
Neil
Goodbye!

Learn more about health

Now try this...

Watch The London Letter Challenge.

'Have you ever had braces?' Learn more about the present perfect. 

'I had braces put on my teeth.' Learn more about the causative have. 

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