# Woman dies after dentist attempts to extract 20 of her teeth **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 19, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-dies-after-dentist-attempts-to-extract-20-of-her-teeth/688754 "2014-05-19T18:11:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-dies-after-dentist-attempts-to-extract-20-of-her-teeth/688754/61 "2014-05-23T17:48:04Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > I had N2O for the first time around 2007 when I’d postponed dental care for 18 month > > So all in all, I wonder if N2O is making a bit of a comeback. I mean, per other threads it doesn’t do that much for analgesia at current usage guidelines, but it gets you really really relaxed and THAT lets the _local_ work better. This has certainly proven to be true for me, and I will never again have fillings etc. done without it (as I tell the dentist, “it’s better for BOTH of us if I’m stoned”). Gas is the best part of going to the dentist! Otherwise I probably wouldn’t go! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-dies-after-dentist-attempts-to-extract-20-of-her-teeth/688754/62 "2014-05-23T23:41:02Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Side comment on the bolded bit: In my own experience at the other end of the drill, this is not true. I’ve had some pretty horrifying experiences with numbing upper teeth (well, with numbing ANY teeth; some people are just tough that way). Which of course leads to greater anxiety, which leads to poorer results with the anesthetic, which leads to even GREATER anxiety… etc. I can’t say I’ve had any horrifying experiences, at least not yet – knock on Formica – but it’s not been unusual for me to have to be administered more anesthetic in the middle of a procedure due to my still feeling some level of discomfort. My dentist agrees it’s just that way for some people. Nowadays he routinely gives me a little extra whenever work has to be done, and there hasn’t been a problem for a while now. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2014, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-dies-after-dentist-attempts-to-extract-20-of-her-teeth/688754/63 "2014-05-24T03:53:45Z")
**Malthus** thank you for posting the Porter valve date that I was going to try to get for **Siam Sam**. I hadn’t gotten to it. As for the N2O deaths, doesn’t seem like any were office related. One I can recall from about 20-25 years ago, a couple of kids stole a cylinder of N2O from a dental office and opened it in their pick up with the windows closed, suffocated. That is what is meant by closed spaces. **Mama Zappa** , I’m sure you did have trouble getting numb on top. The thing is for the upper back teeth there is a nerve that comes in from the roof of the mouth side as well as the cheek side of the teeth. Just numbing the cheek side often doesn’t get the palatal nerve. For a filling may not make a difference in many people, but for Root Canals and Extractions I always do a palatal injection. That is what I mean by placement. Putting a ton of anesthetic on the outside of the upper first molar won’t get it to the palatal(third) root. It will get the two buccal (cheek) roots which is often enough. **Leaffan** , you are kind to mention the “ask the dentist” Someone else said that before, may have been in the “Are Root Canals Toxic?” debate. As I said then I don’t think I’d be able to keep up. I do however try to get in on almost all the dental threads and as you probably noticed usually start with “Dentist here” so folks who don’t read all the dental threads wil Know I’m a dentist. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-dies-after-dentist-attempts-to-extract-20-of-her-teeth/688754/64 "2014-05-24T20:46:25Z")
Regarding multiple teeth pulled at once, there’s a website (can’t find the link ATM) which documents the victims of “Meth Mouth” who end up having all their teeth pulled in one session. Doesn’t say what type of anesthesia was used, but at least there’s lots and lots of lovely, colorful photographs. On preview: Found the link: [成版人抖音免费下载,成版人抖音色版app破解版,成版人抖音色食视频app,成版人抖音食色短视频app下载](http://mitchtv.net/MitchTVBeforeAfter.htm) [DISTURBING IMAGES - NSFW - Index page is ok.] ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-dies-after-dentist-attempts-to-extract-20-of-her-teeth/688754/65 "2014-05-24T21:20:47Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > So all in all, I wonder if N2O is making a bit of a comeback. I mean, per other threads it doesn’t do that much for analgesia at current usage guidelines, but it gets you really really relaxed and THAT lets the _local_ work better. This has certainly proven to be true for me, and I will never again have fillings etc. done without it (as I tell the dentist, “it’s better for BOTH of us if I’m stoned”). I have thrown up on a dental hygienist, so I get nitrous even just for cleanings. It keeps me from throwing up. I don’t get nauseated by having dental work-- I just have a really hyper-vigilant gag reflex, and having metal things in my mouth sets it off. Nitrous suppresses it. It “helps” with the numbing shots in that the shot itself isn’t as painful if you are already under the influence of the nitrous. I used to dread that shot so much, I almost thought I’d rather lose a tooth, then I had my first filling with nitrous, and the shot I dreaded so much was nothing. It didn’t help that I had a fear of dentists because the guy my parents took me to when I was a kid should not have worked on children, but “children’s dentistry” was not even a specialty when I was a kid. If I got scared-- of things like a huge needle going into my mouth-- he’d tell me I was bad, and he was going to tell my mother so she’d punish me, and call me names. It was probably SOP at the time, but I think it would be considered abusive now. I don’t think he liked working on children, but since there weren’t children’s dentists to refer them to, he couldn’t very well turn them away without risking losing the parents as patients. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-dies-after-dentist-attempts-to-extract-20-of-her-teeth/688754/66 "2014-05-24T21:26:29Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > On preview: Found the link: [http://mitchtv.net/MitchTVBeforeAfter.htm](http://mitchtv.net/MitchTVBeforeAfter.htm) > [DISTURBING IMAGES - NSFW - Index page is ok.] Stay off the drugs, kids. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2014, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-dies-after-dentist-attempts-to-extract-20-of-her-teeth/688754/67 "2014-05-24T23:38:03Z")
> [@PurpleClogs](#): > > When I was a kid, maybe 7 or 8, they said they were real busy so they would turn up the gas high and be back in just a minute. They forgot, or someone thought someone else turned it down, anyway a loonnnggg time passed and I was almost passed out and they were a bit concerned. I got oxygen and they walked me around a bit until i could walk again and I was ok. Mom rescheduled the procedure. She wasn’t pleased. > > Pardon the hijack, but funny story… once during my 20’s I was at the dentist having something done, N2O going, mouth open wide, and I got the giggles so damn bad he had to stop for a while and told me, you know laughing gas isn’t really supposed to make you laugh right? I was beet red with embarrassment, they laughed at me, but it was totally uncontrollable. I laughed until I was tearing and out of breath. I’ve had NO2 several times and was just fine. Don’t know what was so funny that day. Well no one should every be left alone while on nitrous. And as far as laughing, plenty of people laugh while on N2O. Most people will if turned up enough but most don’t at dental type levels but plenty still do. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-dies-after-dentist-attempts-to-extract-20-of-her-teeth/688754/68 "2014-05-25T23:15:32Z")
I’ve never taken nitrous for dental work, but when I was 11 I was given some before leg surgery. I don’t even recall the purpose of doing so — I was put under general anesthesia for the surgery itself — but it was the oddest feeling. “You’re an anesthesiologist!”, I remember saying, and laughing at how funny that idea seemed. (However, I hated hated _hated_ the taste it left in my mouth. I felt like I could taste it for days afterward. Terrible stuff. If a dentist ever recommended it I’d have to refuse … luckily, they’ve always been pretty good about the numbing — my childhood dentist could give shots without me even realizing it.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-dies-after-dentist-attempts-to-extract-20-of-her-teeth/688754.md?page=3)