This past Friday I went to the dentist to get a filling done.  I've never been one to like going to the dentist because I always get so tense in the chair and I have a death-grip on the armrests.  But, fortunately, this time I was much more relaxed since I got nitrous oxide to calm me down.

Now, the common misconception about nitrous oxide is that it makes you laugh and giggle, hence the nickname "laughing gas."  I did not feel giddy at all, though I was quite happy since I couldn't feel anything on the right side of my mouth.  Basically, if you've ever had your foot fall asleep, it feels like that almost all over your body.  My fingers felt tingly but they didn't get completely numb.  They placed an apparatus over my nose and it stayed there for the whole time the dentist was doing the filling.  As it was a fairly small cavity, it didn't take too long but I wouldn't have cared.  The nitrous oxide really made me feel more comfortable than I've ever been in a dentist's chair.

When he finished and took the nose mask off, I had to stay sitting for a while just so I wouldn't get a head rush when I stood up.  The right side of my face was still kind of numb for a few hours afterward, so whenever I took a sip of my drink it felt so strange.  I'm just glad I didn't bite my lip while it was still numb.  It was also funny how the numbness stretched all the way up to my right ear since I was listening to my iPod afterwards and kept fidgeting with the earphones.

I'll have to remember all this for my next appointment, which is actually coming up this Friday.  I'm going in for one of two appointments to get the ROOT CANAL done.  Aaaahhhh!  Sorry, I forgot how scary that word sounds.  At least I'll have my good pal nitrous oxide to keep me calm during the operation.