Got a complicated dental procedure scheduled for later today, and am in quite a bit of pain right now, plus a nervous wreck due to dentistry-related phobia. Real talk, I am more scared of what's coming down the pike here than of being shot, and that's despite the fact that the dentist promised me that I'll be numbed up to my eyeballs and high as fuck on nitrous.
Can I get some dragon energy from my fellow pedes?
EDIT: it's done. It went... as well as can be expected or maybe even a bit better. Thank you to everyone who posted and upvoted. It really made a difference. I love you all.
It's an extraction, but according to the dentist the tooth will be "coming out in pieces" so it won't be a quick pop.
I have a deep-seated phobia from a non-anesthesized root canal I underwent while young in Russia. The rather mind-shattering pain, the light in my eyes, the general feeling of being helpless while someone digs in your mouth, all of it added up to a pants-shitting level of irrational fear that grips me at the thought of any dentistry, much less an extraction.
It's been literally decades and I'm still not quite over it.
No full sedation - not worth it. Nitrous works wonders for me, and I will be locally numbed. I only had an extraction once before (ironically, it was that same tooth that was responsible for the phobia in the first place), and it was an easy one. The thought of a complex procedure is... unhelpful.
I've had this dentist before and she's good. She's a bit fond of the "stern grandma" act but does her best to redeem the judgey dentist lectures, plus I've actually been good at keeping up with things. The tooth that is coming out today is a victim of a botched filling seven years ago. It was always going to fail, but it lasted a lot longer without any pain or issues than anyone expected.
So all in all, it SHOULD go well (of course it would be better if there was no extraction at all). but the fun thing about irrational fears are irrational...
As for the Russian dentistry. At least back then, doctors were stingy with anesthesia on any level, and dentists in particular. The only time you could expect to be numbed is for an extraction. Pain was a part of it and patients were expected to deal.