The dentist
Well, today I had to make a trip to the dentist. I went for my not-so-annual checkup a few weeks ago, and he decreed that fillings were probably in order. A couple of X-rays confirmed this, and so I had to go under the drill today. (Incidentally, when I was little, the same dentist took X-rays of my teeth for the first time, but did it without saying anything to me about what was going on. He was just chatting to the nurse about which dentist was sleeping with which assistant*, wacked a heavy metal vest on my chest, stuck this big machine by my head, and he and the nurse ran out of the room, still chatting! There’s a buzz and a thud, and then he comes back in like nothing had happened. Meanwhile, I’m a little freaked out…)
I opted for no anaesthetic (I hate needles…) and just put up with the discomfort of the drilling. But I did ask lots of questions (when I could move my mouth) about what type of fillings he was using, which was better, etc. Slightly puzzling was that the nurse kept shining this blue light into my mouth, while holding orange plastic in front of her eyes. It turns out that the filling paste they use sets, in about 15 seconds, under blue light! Some sort of chemical catalyst reacts very strongly to that frequency. In the early days, they used UV light, but sunburn was an issue! 
The orange plastic was simply to dim the light so that she could see what she was doing. This occupied my thinking long enough to distract from the rest of the drilling. See? Science can help you avoid pain!
All in all, it was a pretty painless experience (far better than having my wisdom teeth out!) And I got my revenge by making him answer all my questions, so I think we’re even (discounting the ridiculous hourly rate he just got paid…) Still, I’m flossing much more regularly now! Oh, and the strangest moment was when the not-unattractive dental nurse leaned down, looked into my mouth, and said to the dentist, with a strange glint in her eyes, “Mmmmmmmm…Nice teeth!”
(*) Actually, I made that bit up. They were talking about what they did on the weekend or something…Sorry.
Joel Says:
My first filling was with needles (blech!) Then my karate teacher at the time told us how he never had needles, and simply told himself not to feel the pain. I was so impressed that I tried it the next time, and found it not too bad. It’s purely psychosomatic, but I try and tell brain that “it’s just a sensation, and that there’s nothing actually bad happening, so just chill out.” It kiiiiinda works
Actually, I was completely turned off needles when I had my wisdom teeth out, and they put needles in the roof of my mouth. Even though I went numb pretty quickly, I could still feel the syringe sliding across my lips, and new that they were putting in the biggest frickin’ needle you’ve ever seen. And they had to do it over and over…*shudder*
As for the toes thing - that’s so cool! I’m going to have to try that some time. And isn’t it odd that there’s always a not-unattractive female nurse? Surely there are some male dental assistants out there?! Though I’d welcome any distraction from the drill… (Hi Jen, if you’re reading this :))
You’re mad, man. I got the anaesthetic for all my fillings last year (too many). It makes you cry when they stick the syringe into the jaw part of the back of your mouth, but being numb is where it’s at. I had my whole face numb for half a day (on my birthday, no less) for some heavy-duty dental stuff. They used the blue light stuff as well. I’ve always opted for anaesthetic since the time when I was a kid, was offered it but thought, “Needle?! No way!” and almost pulled the armrests off in pain later in the procedure.
A weird bit of physiology: They had to take a plaster cast of my teeth, which involved a mouthguard with a whole bunch of bright purple goo in it. They put it in, wait, then remove. But, said the also not-unattractive assistant, if you feel like you’re choking just wiggle your toes. At one point, I did indeed feel like gagging because the stuff was crawling towards my throat, but wiggling your toes worked! No idea how or why.
I’ve just installed threaded comments for wordpress - and you’re the first victim for me to try it out on, Brett. Thankyou, please come again!
Mmmm… Threaded goodness.
Indeed
Hopefully this will make it a bit easier to follow conversations, etc. It was one feature I really missed in Wordpress!