When it comes to mind altering substances, I am terribly boring. I don’t really drink, except for a cocktail a few times a year, and never really have. I’ve never smoked anything. I’m not opposed to a legal edible but have also never quite been curious enough to try one1.
I share this with you not because I want to sound like a prude or as a means to establishing a digital footprint so if my kids someday decide I must be lying when they ask the inevitable questions about whether I tried drugs or drank as a teenager, they’ll find out I’m was really *that* tame.
No, I share this so you’ll better understand why, even though I hate teeth and have genuine dental anxiety, sometimes I almost kinda enjoy a minor dental procedure.
This week I had to have a small cavity filled and my dentist, who is awesome and kind, once offered the nitrous oxide to help take the edge off. I once again accepted, popped in my ear buds, and waited for the room to go pleasantly dizzy.
As I started to hear one of my favorite new tracks from Taylor Swift’s new album, I had a moment of remembering “oh, yeah, this feeling … this is why people get high”
(I suspect part of my reserve about mind altering substances is that I’m worried it could turn out that I’m someone who would like them too much, so it’s for the best that you can’t buy nitrous oxide at the local Target)
I’m not advocating getting dental work done if you don’t need to … but I am saying that getting a little high and listening to a dramatic song about (maybe) murdering bad men and hiding their bodies in a swamp is not the worst medical procedure you’ll ever have.
A semi-related note: As mentioned above, my dentist is a very kind guy who has always tried hard to make getting dental stuff done easier on me. I genuinely like him a lot. That said, every time I see him I’m reminded of the appointment we had a few years ago. We were talking about one of my teeth, which had an odd shape (sexy!), when he pleasantly told me that “if I’m ever called to identify your body through dental remains, this is the tooth that will help me do it!”
I don’t know if it is the lingering effects of the nitrous, but it still makes me laugh every time I think about it. It is perhaps one of the most cheerfully deranged things someone has ever said to me and I kind of cherish it. Nice to know he’s got a plan if my life ever becomes a Dateline episode, I guess.
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A few things I found interesting this week:
In delightful sports news from my home team, the fate of the Minnesota Twins is apparently being decided by a … sausage. That is not a euphemism.
According to researchers from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, 99% of the protests on college campuses have been peaceful, something to keep in mind when the media is primarily showing images of the 1%
On a related note… this is *technically* satire and yet…
A fascinating story about toddlers who seem to have memories of past lives and the scientists who study them.
This house is dreamy (all that stained glass is making my heart sing)
What it’s like to live a life without food (CW for medical stuff, but not about an ED)
The unique grief and losses of today’s college students
I’m curious but the unknown of how it would make me feel in my body gives me pause. I’m not someone who enjoys feeling out of control.
Can I just say, as a dentist, I really appreciate a positive story about us for once? I think of the level of care I give my patients and we still usually just get criticized for being too expensive, or overdiagnosing or being sadists. There are a lot of truly good practitioners out there. Thank you.
I gave birth to my son at home and my labour sped up suddenly so we called EMTs because they could get there faster than the midwife could. The EMTs offered me nitrous oxide. I inhaled once and everything in my vision went purple. I HATED it. I’ll never do nitrous oxide again if I can help it. (I’m glad it works for you, though!)