Description (What is being performed):
When one has a mouth soar, whether it be gingivitis or something else, drinking Tequila or any other high content alcohol will cause said soar to go away.
The Informant (Background info about performance from informant):
Me: “My father tells me that you get drunk off Tequila instead of going to the dentist?”
Informant: “(Laughs) No no no, well yes, kind of. Drinking Tequila gets rid of soars, pains, aches.”
Me: “When you say our, you mean?”
Informant: “Pretty much everyone I surround myself with down in Mexico. We all do it. It saves us money from going to the dentist.”
Me: “So you literally just drink Tequila. What is it the alcohol?”
Informant: “The alcohol kills the bacteria, yes. Really any liquor would do, so long as it has high contents.”
Me: “And you do it to save money, thats its value to you?”
Informant: “Yeah, the dentists where I live down there are kind of sketchy and up here too expensive. The drink won’t get rid of cavities, so we just brush our teeth better. It only takes a couple minutes twice a day. I just don’t get it that people feel the need to spare an extra few minutes when drilling cavities is much more expensive, you know what Im saying?”
Me: “Definitely. How did you hear about this way of cleaning the mouth?”
Informant: “Well one of my buddies had this raging toothache for quite some time and tried everything to get rid of it, except for the dentist of course (laughs). Then after a couple of nights of drinking it went away. This led him to doing some research online where other people reported the same phenomenon after drinking high amounts of liquor. He was convinced it worked since then and has told everyone about it. Then one day I told my mother about it and she didn’t act surprised, it was the oldest trick in the book to her. Come to find out a lot of the older crowd in town knew about this.”
Me: “Did you get a chance to ask her where she heard it from?”
Informant: “She said it was some sort of long standing tradition, but the origins were unknown.”
Me: “So you like it because it saves you money, you learned it from a friend but found out it was a long standing tradition, and it means what to you?”
Informant: “It means I don’t have to go to the dentist (laughs).”
Me: “So saving money.”
Informant: “Yeah and an excuse to get drunk.”
Me: “I had interviewed someone else about another folk medicine belief that consisted of drinking water upside down to get rid of hiccups. Part of why this informant said they liked it is because of the entertainment factor of watching others reactions to suggesting the remedy. Would you say that applies to this situation?”
Informant: “I hadn’t thought about that, but I would say that. They’re always skeptical, but its alcohol so they drink it regardless and if it works it works and they’re blown away.”
Me: “But no sentimental value regarding the process of this?”
Informant: “Not really. We just consistently drink so that we don’t have these issues, so it no longer seems like a distinct process or ritual.”
The Analysis (My Thoughts):
With this situation, the discovery of the folk medicine was by accident. What’s interesting about this is what sustained the practice of this remedy, beyond its consistent efficacy, is the confirmation received through what others have said online about it. Only today do we have the power to further assert our beliefs in unofficial medicine with such ease. Not only that but from perspectives across the globe. This is great in that we as people have created this global network to perpetuate the practice of DIY.
Back to this specific situation though… an economic factor seems to have reoccured when the informant described its value. The informant states that it is cheaper to drink liquor to get rid of bacteria than it is going to the dentist. Although i’m sure it works, it certainly isn’t a remedy dentists would recommend for various reasons. This does raise a question regarding folk remedies in relation to health care and low class citizens. Do citizens of this demographic practice folk medicine more frequently because of their lack of being able to pay for these sorts of things? Of course they can go to a lower tier dentist, but the quality may not be there, which is recognized why the informant. So as a result it seems they feel it is safer to just wing it with some DIY remedies. But there is always that possible occurrence where a DIY remedy goes wrong and in that circumstance there’s no one to hold accountable for the error but oneself. Not to mention long term effects of drinking alcohol which can be worse and more costly down the road than going to the dentist. Although I think for a lot of people in lower economic states all they are concerned with is the now. They’re trying to survive in the moment which will made such unofficial and cheaper practices more desirable. Because of this factor I can image lower class people may be more likely to resort to these practices than the middle or upper class.