Yeah, it’s interesting. More and more high-end dentists are getting into doing sedation dentistry and selling it at a premium. It does have the advantage of getting you nice and looped so they can do a bunch of stuff at one time (in my case, removing one tooth, crowning the one next to it, and a badly-needed cleaning). The disadvantage is that insurance almost never pays for it, and it tacks several hundred dollars onto a procedure.
It’s tricky, though. When I came around, I felt fine. I mean, man, I felt like I’d slept 12 hours and was ready to rock and roll—even the novocaine numbness was all but gone. I swung my legs off the bed and stood up as the assistant tried to stop me...and kept going. Damn near went face-first into a mirror before I caught myself. I laid back down after that.
My wife came and got me, and the ride home was interesting. My eyes would not focus. I was OK otherwise, but no matter what I did, no matter how hard I willed myself or strained, my eye muscles would not move to focus at middle distances. That’s a very weird sensation. We got home, she helped me up the stairs, and I slept the rest of the day.
If you hate dentists as passionately as I do, it really is the way to go. I honestly don’t think I can go back to a dentist that won’t give me nitrous, even for a simple cleaning. I have a real fear of them, and combined with a hair-trigger gag reflex, that makes me a dentist’s nightmare to work on. The hygenists always told me they gassed me as much for their benefit as for mine. :)
}:-)4
That is exactly the kind of anesthetic they use for C-sections.
I kid you not!
I didn’t mean to make it sound that bad! I’ve had a very good dentist for years and he knows I’m touchy because I have never had a toothache. I grew up in Houston with natural flouride.
He says my teeth are like granite. Could be. I’m 56 and I have NO cavities. The one I had ended up with a root canal, so 0 cavities here.