Just Say NO[vocaine]

Am I a bad-ass, or what?

Whenever I have a cavity filled (which has happened more often than I’d like to remember), I tell the dentist to skip the pain killers. Yes, that’s right, no pain killers. And I highly recommend this to everyone else.

Why?

Well, I owe this idea to my former office mate, Christina. She’s the one who first opened my eyes to this world of improved dental visits. Her claim was that if you forewent the novocaine, the dentist would have to be more gentle on your mouth. Likewise, if you let the dentist numb you up, he could go to town and beat the crap out of your mouth with impunity.

So I tried it. And it was great.

But my reasons for liking it were slightly less conspiratorial than Christina’s were. To me, the main benefits are:

1. You avoid those painful shots before the dentist starts drilling. Truth is: most of the time, those shots hurt more than the actual drilling does.
2. Once the drilling stops, you’re back to normal in about 5 seconds. No more pain—nothing. Good as new. With the painkillers, you have to wait at least an hour before you get your mouth back.
3. Unless the cavity is very large or very deep, the drilling pain is really not that bad. It sounds painful, but it doesn’t feel painful.
4. You have nothing to lose, since, if the pain ever does get unbearable, the dentist can ply you with painkillers right away, at any time during the procedure.

My no-novocaine approach was validated recently, when a friend of mine (let’s call him… “Kramer”) went to the dentist to have his first cavity filled. Yes, that’s right, in 30-odd years, he’d never had a cavity. Hell, he’d never even been to a dentist til he was 28… but that’s another story. (Genetically great teeth.)

Anyway, I told him to skip the novocaine, which he did, and (a) he lived to tell about it, and (b) he’s glad he didn’t use the novocaine.

So take it from me (and Kramer): just say NO[vocaine].