Hacker News Reader

Comment by wpietri | Hacker News Reader

I am one of those people. The oral surgeon offered me the option of being put under for an extra $600 for the 45-minute operation. There are probably things I'd pay $800/hr for, but that wasn't one of them. He seemed kinda irritated; that meant he had to give me something like 16 shots to properly numb everything.

Personally, I didn't mind it. It was an interesting experience. I knew I was made of meat, but the smell of bits of it cooking really brought it home. And as you say, the sound was kinda freaky. But it was a good opportunity to practice keeping the mind centered and following the breath. Plus now I can joke that I learned to transcend dental medication.

View on HN

I also recently had my wisdom teeth removed without sedation. I took some pills that the dentist prescribed to me that were supposed to really put me out of it, but I was 100% with it until about the time we got in the car to leave the dentists office. I pretty much hate having my teeth worked on. It causes me quite a bit of anxiety when normally I'm not very anxious. Whilst numbing my face, he hit a nerve 2-3 times that sent what felt like a powerful electrical jolt through my body. After that, it was a quite a physical process with the dentist even propping himself against my arm at one point to rip those suckers out. I had put the process off for about 6-8 years, but I am really happy its done and in the past. Now every time I have to get a filling, I wince quite a bit waiting for that poked nerve sensation...

But is it safe?

I have always been a champ at the dentist probably because I was used to it growing up with all the orthodontic work. As an adult I had a wisdom tooth removed. At one point he said he had to crack it, brought out an awl-type device and leaned on it with all his weight. A tremendous crack; I saw blood squirt out of my mouth like a jet, and thought it was hilarious.

However, I can't put things into my eye at all. Karmic.

For me this is one of those things that I would definitely spend $800/hour on! Not to mention that the drugs they use to put you under are amazing.

Ironically I had my 4 wisdom teeth pulled without it - wasn't even offered to me at the time. I only had the anesthesia once for a minor dental procedure.

> the smell of bits of it cooking

Can you explain this part? I'm considering my wisdom teeth pulled out.

Cauterization of the wound, I'd expect. Stops bleeding via cooking you.

I had crown lengthening done once. The procedure is basically cutting away your gum to expose more of the bottom of the tooth (gives more surface area for a crown to attach). The "cutting" with a laser, so it's basically just burning away the gums. I could see actual smoke rising out of my mouth and it distinctly smelled like cooking bacon. It was very surreal because I didn't FEEL anything.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com