I have been seeing my dentist on a regular basis every six months for
as long as I can remember. He always insisted on using local
anesthesia. I hate the feeling for the next few hours. I have a high
tolerance for pain and told him to just drill. Todays drills are so
fast and have water injection that the pain is minimal. He has
recently retired and I went to a new dentist. I was recently diagnosed
with cancer and require radiation treatments. Due to the area that
needs to be radiated I needed to get all dental issues resolved before
begining treatment. The dentist told me that there were eight areas
that needed to be addressed. When I asked why it would take so many
visits  he told me that he could only give me local anesthesia on a
limited basis. I told him that I would prefer not to have novacaine.
He was surprised but agreed to go ahead. I won't say there was no pain
but it was not that bad. He was able to do four cavities in one visit.
When I left the office I had no pain or discomfort. To me it was well
worth the minor discomfort of the drilling. I also had a complete
tooth cleaning which to me was more painful. All I can remember as a
child was going to the dentist where they did not know what novacaine
was and the drills they used were worse than my DeWalt with a dull
bit. Trust me if I get a root canal I want to be on LSD but little
cavities...just grab the chair arms.