1. the gas. get the gas. it’s (almost) worth it just for the gas. esp. that first minute or two when they put the thingy over your nosey and let you party a little before they hurt you.
2. be adamant about the novocaine. tell them your teeth are telepathic pain receptors that feel it if any dental professional even thinks about doing anything, anything at all, even stuff that’s not supposed to hurt.
3. if they are still unconvinced, mention your unfortunate habit of biting. you wish you didn’t have to, but you do.
4. listen to the wise words of Tanya. bring your CD player. i would recomment Lit – A Place In The Sun. it’s music to drill and file and scrape do other zizzy things and god knows what else by.
You make me come
You make me complete
You make me completely miserable
Stuck to a chair
Watchin’ this story about me
Everything goes by so fast
Making my head spin
or:
I touched the world
I felt the sun
I know the best is yet to come undone
I looked around
At everyone
I know the best is yet to come undone
trust me on the Lit thing. or if you’re really wondering, go to the supermarket, pick up a can of whipped cream, hold it upright, and depress the nozzle, inhaling. then read that again. way profound.
or don’t. i’m not only a bad influence, i’m also the reason the whipped cream never comes out of the can right. whippets man! we didn’t need drugs, we had the supermarket.
I always remind the dentist that I’m a wuss and have a low pain tolerance. So crank it up and gas me, babeeeeeee! By the time it’s over, and they’ve peeled me off the ceiling, I stagger out to my car and go home.
you’re welcome, honey. i’m glad i’m not the only one scared silly of the dentist.
and #3 had me cackling wildly for ten minutes. i need to remember that. and sharpen my canines.
You should go to a rave sometime kd and watch the high schoolers take hits off of the nitrous tank. They smile, start to walk away, on about the third step they faceplant right into the ground. Then they sit and laugh as the next kid in line collapses on top of them.
When I used to work in a hotel restaurant we used to do the whippit thing all the time, and it became such an epidemic the head chef made a little cabinet in the walk-in cooler that he could padlock all the whip creames inside.
Hmm…maybe they should use gas for the MRI machine too. I had music, although it was supplied by the neurologist techs, not brought by me. But trying to remain still for 30-45 minutes while that thing takes its pictures of your brain would have been much easier with some sort of anesthesia (although it might fog the pix, come to think of it).
Well, my appointment isn’t until the 19th of November, so I have a lot of time for *the fear* to psyche me out. I’m going to remember the music, though. Looks like I’ll be getting root canal for christmas.
Yay.
Except not.
there should always be gas. there should be gas in the air where they argue international incidents, and talk of war. and there should be Lit on the stereo speakers. and everyone should have a couple beers, or a doobie.
there you have it. the end of war as we know it. peace! love! nitrous! yay!
woo.
Good God! Are you sure you didn’t walk into a leather bar instead of a dental office? When I get my teeth cleaned they offer me the option of a little novacaine! (But then there was Dr. Killjoy who did all 28 of my crowns with novacaine and sometimes less….)
um. i had a root canal, three fillings, and a heinous deep cleaning.
and yes, it takes gas *and* ‘caine to even clean my teeth. i am that much of a wussie.
glad it’s over…
yes, definitely gas. gas, anaesthetic gel on the gums prior to the novocaine shot, and more gas. plus take-home gas for when you get the bill. i once had a tooth drilled and filled without any anaesthetic just to see what all the fuss was about (here in austria alot of people have their teeth drilled all the time without shots, don’t ask me why, i guess it’s no accident that masochism was invented here, also i think insurance doesn’t pay for gas and painkillers – wussy surcharge or something). wow. marathon man all the way.
otoh, an american friend’s father was a dentist; he gave gas to his very first patient, who promptly went into cardiac arrest and nearly died, so he was reluctant to administer gas for the rest of his career.
I am a heavy subscriber to lots of nova. But, gas? No. Am I the only one afraid of “the gas”?
my mom was a christian scientist, which meant i didn’t get out of going to the dentist but i didn’t get novocaine either. gas = good
i am no stranger to the whipped creamed cans. i used to work the late shift at foster freeze. yeah baby. HA!
and…i went to a butcher dentist not too long ago who drilled me with no novacaine. good god. i thought i would die, i know they heard my scream a mile away. geez.
In the 60’s I worked at a supermarket after school.
The whipped cream cans were bought by the “hippies”.. along with the Romilar….
Pychadelic, man…
(I cheerfully exchanged legal tender..)
You make going to the dentist seem like much more fun than it really is. I mean, I like the dentist and all, but sheesh.
it’s the gas. it’s all about the gas.
kd, well, I have had 18 root canals, 28 crowns, and a deep cleaning. (And I had the deep cleanings done under valium sedation. Whee! Spitting out the blood for two weeks after each side is no fun, is it?)
He’s doing the other side of the deep cleaning on FRIDAY? kd, I repeat my question: does he wear leather and insist that you address him as “Master” when he works?
not over. the other side of my mouth gets worked on friday.
more stuff a week from then.
i shall INSIST on the gas. if i have to even go there, i get gas. period. no exception….
On Dental Misadventures
It’s hard to be going through this stuff. People don’t realize how different we all are, that each mouth gets wired in a different way.
I absolutely HATE novicane. In ways I can’t even explain. It hurts. It makes my head hurt. I’m in agony after I get it.
I have had 5 crowns done without novicane … or gas. Hu-rah! (I know. You’re impressed.)