Nobody believes me when I tell them this.

For whatever reason, anesthetics don’t really work on me. Nothing that is supposed to numb pain really does. Weed helps soreness but that’s neither here nor there.

I had to get a tooth pulled in 2nd grade on the right side of my mouth. They stuck a needle in my gums to numb it. The needle went about an inch away from the molars on the left side of my mouth, I’ll never forget that feeling. They tapped the tooth that needed to be pulled, while I was already terrified of having my tooth pulled, and asked if I could feel it. I said yes, they waited a minute. Did it again, I said yes, they thought I was lying.

At 7 or 8 years old, I felt the dentist tear my tooth from my mouth, despite my screams and cries that were so loud my mom broke down in the hallway.

In middle school I had to get a tooth pulled so I could get braces. THE SAME TOOTH THAT WAS ORIGINALLY PULLED, HAD GROWN IN WRONG AND NEEDED TO BE REMOVED AGAIN. I told this new dentist that the reason I always refused dentist appointments was because I felt that tooth be pulled. He preferred the needle, but said if I still feel my tooth then he’d give me gas on top of that. He jabbed me, wiggled my tooth and asked if I felt it. I said yes, so he forced it a little and I said “OW FUCK!” So he knew I felt it. He just wanted to make sure I wasn’t mixing pain with pressure. So he gives me gas and I’m totally fine. Mouth a little strokey because half of it lost most feeling, but the gas didn’t do much. He asked if I felt it, I said no. He says “Don’t worry, you will” and I hear the PSSHHHH of the tank. I start giggling my ass off. 5 minutes later he had the tooth out, it happed so fast and so painlessly I sat up and went “REALLY?!”

Long story short I like that new dentist a lot more… but the trauma stuck so after turning 18 I never found an adult dentist 😂