And no, we’re not talking about whiskey!

After more than 30 years of practicing dentistry, you’d think I’d have heard just about everything. But every once in a while, a patient comes along and surprises me.

This one certainly did.

A gentleman called our office in terrible tooth pain. He’d already had a root canal on the tooth, and when that didn’t solve the problem, he’d had it retreated. Unfortunately, the tooth was still giving him fits.

When he arrived, I could tell immediately that he was miserable. He was flushed, uncomfortable, and looked like he wanted to be just about anywhere else.

He told me the pain was so bad he almost felt like throwing up.

Ouch. That’s some serious pain.

Now, over the years, I’ve developed a habit of joking with patients when we’re talking about anesthetic injections.

“Hey, would you like a shot just for fun?”

Usually, I get a laugh, a funny look, or a very definite NO!

But not today.

“Yes, give me a shot, please!”

I almost fell off my chair.

In all my years of making that joke, I don’t think I’ve ever had anybody actually take me up on it!

Of course, he wasn’t asking because he’d suddenly developed a fondness for needles. He just wanted that tooth to stop hurting.

And I couldn’t blame him.

We gave him a long-acting local anesthetic to help with the pain, along with other medications to manage his symptoms and infection until we could address the problem.

The first patient excited about an extraction?

Over the weekend, he sent me a text letting me know the pain was finally starting to settle down.

But he also wanted me to know something else.

He couldn’t wait to get that tooth out!

Now, I’ve had plenty of patients tell me they were nervous about an extraction. I’ve had patients ask whether we could put it off. I’ve even had patients who would rather be just about anywhere else.

But someone actually looking forward to it?

Well, that’s a little different!

Monday morning rolled around, and sure enough, he showed up ready to go.

“Boy, I’m really excited for this!”

I had to laugh.

Of course, he was still one of my nervous Nellie patients. He knew the tooth needed to come out, but that didn’t mean he wanted to experience every minute of the procedure.

So we used IV sedation to help him through it comfortably.

Boy, was that tooth infected!

Once we removed the tooth, we could see just how much infection had been present.

There was quite a bit of work to do.

We thoroughly cleaned and disinfected the area, prepared the bone, placed a graft, and covered it with a membrane to help protect the site during healing.

We also used platelet concentrates prepared from his own blood as part of our surgical protocol.

All of this was done to help prepare the area for a possible future dental implant, once the site has healed and we’ve confirmed that the bone is ready.

And our patient?

Well, he was doing just fine.

“Doc, I don’t remember a thing!”

After he got home, I gave him a call to see how he was doing.

He told me he didn’t remember a thing about the procedure.

That always makes me smile.

One of the interesting things about IV sedation is that patients can sometimes respond to questions and follow instructions during treatment, yet remember little or nothing about it afterward.

It’s called anterograde amnesia, and it’s an effect of some of the medications we use.

Of course, not everyone experiences sedation exactly the same way, and complete amnesia is never something we promise.

But in his case, he was pretty happy with the experience.

And so was I.

The troublesome tooth was gone, the infected area had been treated, and we had taken the first steps toward replacing the tooth with an implant.

Now comes the healing and follow-up phase.

There’s a little lesson in all of this

People sometimes think that being afraid of the dentist means they’re being difficult.

I don’t see it that way.

Here’s a fellow who had already been through a root canal, a retreatment, and some pretty miserable pain. He knew he needed more treatment, but he was still nervous.

That’s understandable.

Our job isn’t to lecture people about being afraid. It’s to listen, explain their options, and find a way to help them get the care they need.

Sometimes that means taking a little extra time to talk. Sometimes it means using IV sedation.

And sometimes, apparently, it means finding the one patient in more than 30 years who actually says yes when I offer him a shot for fun!

There’s a first time for everything.

And no, we’re still not talking about whiskey.

Steve Little, DMD, FAGD”