You're welcome to have your teeth drilled as you like. However, if you have a younger family member with more sensitive teeth you may understand that it's not for everyone. Imagine if your child jerked away for just and instant that caused the drill to cause more harm than good. The modern novacaine derivative my dentist uses lasts only about 30-60min after the appointment.
Because I was under the age of 18 and he was my parents dentist I didn't really have a choice. I didn't have any cavities as a child so my first negative dental experience was at 17 when he filled 4 molars "preventatively" (because he didn't know that epoxy capping was a thing). It didn't kill me, but it was an excruciating 30 min and an absolutely miserable day. The muscle tension pain from not moving took days to subside. Not a reasonable trade-off for me.
I had your experience at ages 6-9 in Alaska. The only available dentist had moral qualms about using novocaine.
The resulting aversion conditioning kept me away from dentists until I was 36, when my then-girlfriend coerced me to see a dentist. I needed lots of work, all of which was done using novocaine.
Pain control is part of good professional medical practice. If a practitioner puts you through gratuitous pain, find somebody else.
> Pain control is part of good professional medical practice. If a practitioner puts you through gratuitous pain, find somebody else.
I he has really "moral qualms" even when asked explicitly, I accept that you better look for another dentist. My claim is rather that it is as a dubious practise to just apply an anaesthetic injection by default.
Because I was under the age of 18 and he was my parents dentist I didn't really have a choice. I didn't have any cavities as a child so my first negative dental experience was at 17 when he filled 4 molars "preventatively" (because he didn't know that epoxy capping was a thing). It didn't kill me, but it was an excruciating 30 min and an absolutely miserable day. The muscle tension pain from not moving took days to subside. Not a reasonable trade-off for me.