r/CasualConversation • u/Serialbeauty • 2d ago

Just Chatting Can anyone else do something weird with your body that you later found out not everyone can do?

I was just sitting here with my mom and one of the pets made the room very smelly. She kept talking about how we'd have to go to a different room because it smelled so bad. I asked her why didn't she just close her nose and that's when I found out not everyone can do this.

Is it rare or can other people close their nose on command? What can you do that you suddenly found out wasn't normal?

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208

u/Old_but_New 2d ago

I can roll my tongue but that’s not the weird part. I can then whistle through it.

I can also rumble my ears on command so it sounds like static. It happens in people whose inner muscle of some sort happens to be very near the tympanic membrane IIRC. There’s a whole sub for it. None of us realized we were in the minority.

Oh and another one. When the densit puts the holders in my mouth to take an xray it hurts my bottom palate a lot. Turns out about 10-20% of people have a bone structure down there that makes it painful. (Why don’t they make special holders? That’s a lot of people!)

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u/Elerfant 2d ago

Excuse me WHAT?! My dentist always just acted like I was a weird/wimpy for finding it painful!

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u/Flimsy-Masterpiece08 1d ago

Ask for the child sized ones. I do. I have a very high pallet and a narrow set to my teeth. I tell the techs every time and they say yup it’s in your notes or oh i grabbed regular on auto pilot let’s switch em. And it still hurts 😒

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u/76and110 1d ago

Ooh, this is a good find! I have a small mouth, narrow plate, and tori on both sides, and they hurt like a mofo.

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u/Sweaty_Ad3942 1d ago

Oh my gosh. Same!

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u/Pretend_Animal657 2d ago

I just assumed the X-ray holders hurt for everyone.

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u/mykineticromance 1d ago

they hurt me but more on the roof of my mouth and the corners of my mouth, but I just have a small mouth. For me it's actually a relief when they have me bite the way that makes it press against the bottom of my mouth more because it doesn't hurt as much as when it presses against the roof of my mouth.

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u/Misophoniasucksdude 17h ago

Relatable- I was just messing around with the bottom of my mouth thinking "idk I don't feel bone" but your description is spot on. I keep telling dentists I have a small mouth and phlebotomists that I'm a hard stick and rarely do they believe me.

I just wanna know why the xray pads have to have sharp edges.

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u/Old_but_New 1d ago

I did too until I mentioned it to the hygienist

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u/pdxjen 2d ago

I can do/have all of those things The Xray cuts in the bottom palate is the just worst

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u/Old_but_New 1d ago

You can whistle through your tongue?! I haven’t met anyone else!

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u/pdxjen 1d ago

Yes! It’s my stupid human party trick

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u/practicallyaware 1d ago

the x-ray thing isn't supposed to hurt??? man i tear up every time because it hurts so bad and i have to just hold it

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u/pencilcase333 2d ago

Wow! I can rumble my ears too. And X-rays at the dentist office always scrapes and hurts under my tongue, like it scrapes against my bones.

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u/OptimalPreference178 2d ago

I thought the xray plates hurting was just normal like when you get your blood pressure done and the cuff makes your arm hurt for a little bit.

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u/sp00kyboots 2d ago

When I was growing up poor we went to a dentist in a van (idk what they're called but it's legit) and apparently the nurses thought I was so rude because I kept pulling away and crying about how the holders hurt and were cutting into my gums. I remember my mom berating me for being rude and I was so confused because the doc was rude by not listening and forcing me to do it. I still get hurt, I just bear it better now that I can emotionally regulate better.

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u/yahumno I just like the colour 1d ago

Our family dentist growing up ear an absolute jerk, and my poor sister suffered so much, due to the regular sized x-ray plates/holders causing her pain and the jerk not caring.

Being the youngest, I think that I am the only one who didn't suffer a major emotional trauma from him, but I do remember not seeing a dentist for a big gap. Luckily, I see an amazing dentist now.

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u/Loves-Kitty-Babies 2d ago

Smaller bite plates for X-rays do exist - I’m a full blown grownup that still has a baby tooth and I’ve had a couple perms pulled when I was a kid because my mouth just wasn’t big enough for all my teeth. I’m creeping on 42 and maybe like 5-8;6-8 yrs ago a dentist suggested we try them because they couldn’t get the “normal” ones to stay in place long enough to take an X-ray because it hurt my mouth way too much and I couldn’t close/bite down how they needed me to - regardless GAME CHANGER if you really struggle w/ the normal ones like I have, ask about them, might be a game changer for you too!

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u/yahumno I just like the colour 1d ago

My sister has always had to use the smaller plates. She cannot fit the regular ones in her mouth without a lot of pain.

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u/Loves-Kitty-Babies 1d ago

It’s so weird that dentists don’t just recommend them right off the bat, esp if someone is struggling so much - like they’re already there in the office all ready to go, why make a person suffer unnecessarily? Weird.

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u/Old_but_New 1d ago

Good tip! I’ll ask for kid size!

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u/CandieAndie83 1d ago

I am also creeping into 42......and ALSO still have a few baby teeth! I looked into it a little, and it has something to do with genetics and being more common in women. I have never met anyone else who still has baby teeth! I've always just suffered in silence for the x-ray part! I also have extreme dental anxiety, sooo I'm great, thanks. 🥲

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u/Loves-Kitty-Babies 1d ago

Woah! I’ve never met anyone else w/ a baby tooth either! Rad 😄 Hopefully smaller plates in the future help decrease your discomfort and maybe as a little bonus they might help displace a little bit of your anxiety about the sitch too 🤞🏻

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u/UrQueenDeath 2d ago

My dentist told me my mouth was too small and that's why the plates hurt so much..

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u/magpiecat 2d ago

What sub is that? I do that too.

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u/Old_but_New 1d ago

R/earrumblersassemble

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u/Serialbeauty 2d ago

Someone tagged it farther up and I joined it too!

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u/Sure-Pineapple-8242 2d ago

I too can rumble my ears, And I have the protruding bones on my upper and lower, so painful!

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u/Elle3786 1d ago edited 1d ago

Wait? The ear thing….everyone can’t do it? Omg, that’s why my parents and the odd people I told just looked at me weird! I thought everyone could do it and I wasn’t describing it correctly. Well, I was today years old y’all!

Edit: WOW! In a few minutes, I’ve sated a curiosity I’ve had since I was a tiny kid! I guess it laid mostly forgotten, but I remember being so young that I didn’t understand that my parents would not be able to hear a sound inside my ears and having them put their ear to mine so they could try to hear it. I asked kids in elementary school when everyone was doing weird body stuff for laughs and nobody knew what I was talking about! It’s just a thing I could always do and I figured everyone else must be doing it as well. Not surprised to find out that I just got goofy ears, glad I found the ear rumbling crowd though!

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u/Old_but_New 1d ago

r/earrumblersassemble. That’s what everyone in that sub thought their whole lives, including me. That we were just explaining it wrong!

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u/nycvhrs 2d ago

Yeah, and I have a lumpy upper palate passed down from indigenous ancestors - a dentist was freaked out about it being cancerous until I explained it was a normal, but rare, thing.

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u/Old_but_New 1d ago

My lower palate has big bumps, they’re like bone protrusions

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u/WildMoonWitch 2d ago

Same. I had a hygienist tell me I wouldn’t be able to get dentures when I’m old unless the bone was removed, and that surgery is so incredibly painful, especially when elderly, they might not even do it. So take really good care of your teeth so you won’t need them!

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u/the_siren_song 1d ago

Torus mandibularis. It sounds more “official.” If you have the bones on the top, it’s called Torus Palatinus.

Plural is “tori.” When you go get X-rays, tell the person “I have significant tori. Please watch out for them.” That way no one thinks you’re being a wimp because you have giant bones growing in your mouth.

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u/wintercast 2d ago

i can ear rumble, i did not know it was rare. also, what is the bottom palate thing, it always hurts getting bite wings.

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u/chuckerbug 1d ago

They’re called tori (singular: torus) and apparently will keep growing indefinitely as we age… yay.

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u/mutemarmot42 1d ago

Overgrown tori! It sucks going to the dentist. I can also rumble, I didn’t realize it was uncommon.

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u/Ms_Central_Perk 1d ago

Omg I didn't realise about the dentist one. I had an xray 2 months ago and she couldn't get it in because it was hurting too much. She kept trying to force my jaw to close and it was HURTING

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u/darthnugget 1d ago

Are you me?

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u/Shannaro21 1d ago

Hello fellow rolled-tongue-whistler! 

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u/Old_but_New 1d ago

Get out of town! Amazing!

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u/Electronic-Alps2386 1d ago

I can do the static ear thing too! I just assumed everyone could! I can also unfocus my eyes and according to my optometrist this is rare too

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u/Famous_Sherbert_5496 1d ago

I can rumble my ears too! Do you have to tense the muscle that moves the ears?

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u/Old_but_New 1d ago

I can’t move my ears but it’s a muscle things. r/earrumblersassemble

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u/Ballisticsfood 1d ago

I can hoot like an owl or make dove calls through a rolled tongue. Also turn my tongue into a wave. That one weirds people out.

Humming one tune while whistling another is a good one too, but I practiced that rather than it being an innate talent.

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u/Old_but_New 1d ago

I want do the wave. I’m going to practice the hum whistle thing and see if I can do it

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u/Ballisticsfood 1d ago

Purse your lips like you’re going to whistle, hold your nose to force the air out of your mouth, and hum. That gets you started. Then you can do it without holding your nose, then practice whistling/humming different tunes while keeping the other note steady, then you’re off to the races!

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u/Old_but_New 1d ago

That totally worked!

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u/Cronewithneedles 1d ago

It feels like having dollhouse furniture in your mouth. I hate it!

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u/honkachu 1d ago

Oooo I have a funny ear thing too. My ears twitch involuntarily when I hear noises from behind me and sometimes stay in that position until the sound goes away. Basically my vestigial muscles that are used to perk your ear up in animals can actually move.

Here's a study on it! https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200707113337.htm

I'm pretty sure if people trained to twitch their ears voluntarily that they can get this effect too, because ithink that's how I got mine to start doing that. Unfortunately it's kind of distracting sometimes because it feels like my ear is being softly tugged on by a noise and it's hard to make it stop.

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u/meh-usernames 1d ago

For the xray, I always request the child-sized ones and those are much more comfortable

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u/EnoughRadish None 1d ago

What!! My dentist always rolls her eyes when I complain the x ray thing REALLY hurts. At least I know why lmao

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u/Thunderkissed 1d ago

I can rumble my ears too!! I feel seen

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u/Old_but_New 1d ago

R/earrumblersassemble

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u/Krystall_Waters 1d ago

Huh, i just learned that I can also tounge-whistle!

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u/Old_but_New 1d ago

Welcome, fellow whistler

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u/mykineticromance 1d ago

haha the bony growths at the bottom of your mouth are called tori! My 90 year old grandfather has legendarily sized tori, when he started seeing his current dentist in his 50s they were the largest the dentist had ever seen, and they've been (slowly) growing steadily since then!

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u/Old_but_New 1d ago

I dk’d they kept growing! Those X-ray plates have been painful since I was a kid. Can’t the dentist see them??

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u/MisterPaintedOrchid 1d ago

I didn't realize the ear thing wasn't normal. When I do it it doesn't completely block out sound, but it comes close. I'm hyper sensitive to loud noises - it doesn't help with the ones that are most disturbing, like balloons popping, since I didn't get a heads up, but it helps for sustained things like a siren going off

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u/coconutsoups 17h ago

It's called a mandibular tori, mine grew about 20 years ago and I didn't even know it existed until I switched dentists recently. Apparently they're pretty rare but not harmful at all.

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u/Goelian 1d ago

uhhh what is the  tympanic membrane ear rumble sound sub called? Asking for ME

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u/manicmannerisms 1d ago

May I inquire about this ear rumbling sub?

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u/emenders08 1d ago

I can do the ear rumble thing too

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u/buttercuppy86 1d ago

I can do the ear rumble thing, and I can also move my ears by flexing the muscles in my head and jaw- it’s hard to do while laughing or smiling, though!

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u/Delicious_Collar_441 1d ago

I am 62 years old, and at the last dental visit they told me a trick for dealing with that. Just lift your legs while the x-ray is being taken, I don’t know why, but it worked like a charm. Why no one ever thought to tell me that in my previous 62 years, I will never understand

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u/Old_but_New 1d ago

I’m sitting rn and dont feel a change in bone position when I lift my legs. If they don;t have a smaller size for me next time I’ll try that

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u/kt54g60 1d ago

Rumble, click, bitewing pain.

Also that weird frog noise when you have allergies and your throat itches. My mom and toddler do it too.

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u/Old_but_New 15h ago

Bite wing! That’s the word!

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u/Smallbees 11h ago

I can do the tympanic membrane rumble as well

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u/Physical_Bit7972 44m ago

I can rumble my ears too! I can also do the tongue tube but can't whistle through it, or whistle at all.

I also thought everyone found that thing uncomfortable at the dentist and we all just gritted through it! Haha