Clinically Numb

We had a clinic this afternoon to get some experience in giving local anesthetics. Apparently some of my colleagues had a good bit of anxiety about this event. I never really thought about it.. maybe because I wasn't reminded about it until last night. Luckily, my attention was elsewhere yesterday..

So the attending asked for a volunteer on whom he could point out the various anatomical landmarks we were going to inject. Of course that ended up being me. So I laid back in the chair and waited. No big deal.. I've had injections before. My records of immunizations are quite impressive. I've never had an injection in the head/neck region though.

I just laid back in the chair with a dab of topical anesthetic numbing my mucosa. I'm not sure how this stuff was ever labelled 'cherry flavored.' I never really had any anxiety until I looked up and saw 12 eager dental students holding syringes that were just waiting for a green light. I really did feel vulnerable. The dental chair was tipped back. The topical anesthetic was starting to trickle (and numb) my throat as I accidentally swallowed it. And to top it all off, I had 12 kids that have put up with me for the past two years cocked, locked, and ready to rock. I felt like this guy:


Once we started the actual shots, it wasn't that bad. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to cancel my plans this weekend to go get a couple of nerve blocks.. I just don't see why people are so fearful. It is pretty annoying that the left side of my lips and tongue are still numb though.