Friendly Advice

If you go to the dentist for any kind of detailed dental work - say a root canal - and they ask you if you want gas (or nitrous as my dentist calls it); with feeling and emphasis, say, "Yes, oh yes!" Then when they put the ugly rubber gas thing over your nose, breathe in deep.

Does the gas kill brain cells? I don't know, and in my opinion, it doesn't matter if you are at the dentist - you need this stuff (disclaimer: you need this stuff if you are under medical supervision and it is legally being administered)!

Soon, they will be in to give you a shot, many shots if you are getting a root canal so remember to breathe deeply all you can before they arrive. Also, remember to take a deep breath through your nose while they are giving the shot - not just because of the gas but because it helps. It just does!

To increase your relaxation while the dentist is drilling and asking for various instruments, KEEP YOUR EYES CLOSED. It helps. It just does. Why? Because when you open your eyes, you might see various instruments pass through your line of vision (they really try not to do that though, I think they teach that skill in dental school). It is actually a wonderful thing that the dentists use bland words for their instruments (such as "a 308") because you really don't want to hear, "Hand me the root-ripper-outer" or "I need the canal digger" or "Let's use the bigger nerve-destroyer."

And also, when your eyes are open, you invariably stare at the overhead light, the dental light, and anything else on the walls and those things cause you to stay in reality. While getting a root canal, you really want to escape reality. Even though you will still hear all the noises, it helps to let the gas work to get you to a totally relaxed state of mind. So keeping your eyes closed and sucking that gas through your nose in great quantities is the best advice I can give. (Of course, if you start feeling paranoid or your fingers and toes get way too tingly then you need to tell the dentist and he/she will adjust the gas.)

Now, even though I've given this helpful advice, did the root canal hurt? No, it did not (and they did not give me any high powered pain medication and I only took a few Tylenol on the day of the root canal because I was afraid it would hurt even though it never did and it did not hurt the next day either). Shots are never enjoyable, but even they were not too bad. But even though I did not experience any pain, I would not wish a root canal on anyone. It is an experience to be skipped if possible. It's weird. It just is.