[MorganGrayson]

Visualad...I had to have a molar pulled out in three pieces. The dentist cracked that sucker into thirds and pulled it out that way. It was a year ago, and I was so full of novocaine that I didn't feel a thing. When the numbness wore off though, my arthritic jaw joint felt like it had taken a good shot with a tire iron, though. Ouch.

Chris...back before novocaine, when I was a kid, I had a "quack dentist" drill straight into a nerve in a lower molar. My mother heard me scream and came slamming through the door into the examination room. Now, Mom must have been all of 5'2" but...even an itty bitty "Mom" is pretty dangerous under those circumstances. He screwed up the filling, too. The thing abscessed years later and was pulled out totally.

Now, we have the guy we call "The Hippy Dippy Dentist," from the George Carlin "weatherman" routine, because our dentist has a long grey ponytail down his back and is one totally cool individual. He's "anti-pain," a nice attitude for a dentist - and with all of the modern wonders they have now, there is NO excuse for pain at the dentist.

I also learned something very important. One has to be *totally* honest with the dentist or they can't help you. For example, I have a phobia about choking to death. Not a fear, a flat out, uncontrollable, lurch up out of the chair phobia. I explained all of this and told them that I could control anxiety and even fear - but with a phobia, there is no control. He thanked me at length for being honest, and proceeded to do a lot of extra things so that no piece of anything would get even halfway down my tongue, much less near my throat.

I also have a seizure disorder that's triggered by anxiety attacks. My husband sits in the room because he's going to be the only one who will be able to tell if I've had a seizure. (Otherwise, they'd think I was asleep or unconscious, which I most definitely am not.)

A big mistake that people make going to the dentist is by trying to "be a brick" and not admit they're afraid. My dentist has the Valium ready for anybody who's afraid. (Novocaine doesn't mix with anything, so you can get merrily stoned and relaxed without worrying about drug interactions.)

I've had a whole bunch of root canals, and I chuckle at my dentist and say "I keep waiting for the 'incredible pain' part that people talk about." He chuckles back and says "keep waiting...there won't be any." And there never is.

Back in the day, they used a Black and Decker drill that smoked and made your head rattle from the grinding. Now, they use a pencil shaped thing that grinds a hundred times faster, almost silently, and doesn't rattle anything. It's very impressive for somebody who grew up in the stone age.