How Alcohol Helped My Anxiety with Dental Procedures

Let me start by saying, I have indulged in drinking alcohol on different levels. I’ve been tipsy, drunk, and “I did what?”. Although I’m familiar with alcohol, I am only a social drinker and not dependent on the various flavors of spiked fruits. I have full bottles of liquors in my high cabinet that aren’t even open. Being familiar with the feeling of being tipsy really helped me when it was time to go to the dentist to have dental procedures.

Since I became a manager, my dental benefits have changed and with that said, I’ve been paying a copay for services we take for granted being fully covered by other insurance plans. Since I would be paying out of my pocket for services, I may as well go to a nice place and not have to wait all day for a 10:00 am appointment. Those dentists at the no-copay places had no consideration for my time and I’m at the age of my time is precious.  I don’t want to wait to have my hair shampooed, don’t want to wait thirty minutes behind Myra who needs her heels hammer jacked, and I definitely don’t want to wait to be seen by a dentist who has been in the office since 7:00 am and now it’s 2:00 pm, my appointment was for 10:00 am and you want to pull at my teeth.  No thank you, sir or ma’am.

So with that being put out there, I was conscious of a new dentist with bright lights and clean floors and walls that came into my neighborhood – which means less travel on my part.  Bay Dental at the Point, I am able to check off all the boxes to what I need a business to have before I make an appointment, especially if I’m dishing out cash to pay for dental procedures that most don’t have to worry about.  I received my X-rays, my cleaning, refills and then it came to dental procedures that I was avoiding for my whole adult life – tooth extractions.

Tooth extractions are where they numb you up real good and take tools to remove the tooth leaving a hole in your mouth that has to heal with time.  I had a tooth extraction before, so I knew what I was in for – exactly why when my appointment grew near my anxiety was on 100.  During my consultation – yea a consultation, the doc gave me the option to have gas along with the novocaine.  I never had gas before, but I have been tipsy and drunk – and this is exactly how the doctor described how I would feel while I’m inhaling the gas.  It was so cool and I didn’t know why I was never offered the calming element in the past.  It’s not like it was free, you’d think that for extra services, they would push that stuff on you like any other business would do for the bottom line of course.

Gas on, bright lights, calm voices, I closed my eyes and felt the pinch of the needle but not like I would normally.  The only thing that was missing was music because I was feeling as nice as I would at the bar after apple martini number 3.  My tolerance is high.  They tugged a little bit, even used a drill – my tooth wasn’t bothering me and was staying put. lol Before I knew it both teeth on the left side was out and they were on to the right side.  Again, the same procedure of a tugging feeling and then it was all over.  My lightheaded feeling was gone and they gave me instructions for the next few days and it was over.  I was literally in the dentist chair for twenty minutes maybe thirty minutes, I’m at the bar way longer than that.

Since I know there will be other dental procedures within the upcoming year, I will definitely opt to have the gas.  If I knew that indulging in alcohol would allow me to relax and not have anxiety right before dental procedures, I would have paid for that add-on service a long while ago.

Have you had similar experiences when going to the dentist?