Most dentist use what that one did as a last resort. Actually General Dentist should not be doing such a thing at all. It falls more in the line of an Oral Surgeon. Most General dentist would refer a patient to such. I've had tooth extractions of one entire side of my mouth at a time in a dentist office and only had locals for pain.
that's what i was thinking too. our oldest had teeth removed,
prior to braces, at the dentist, with only a local. after the
braces came off, he had to have his wisdom teeth pulled. he
went to the oral surgeon for that and was sedated.
btw, same oral surgeon who pulled my wisdom teeth, who was
also past president of the ADA. :)