A new piece of medical equipment is being tested right now called the Pedisedate. Basically, it is a headset that is placed on a child before they are admitted to surgery. The device connects to a Game Boy or portable CD player (yup, not a Nintendo DS or iPod — apparently the Pedisedate also transports you to 1996) and a snorkel-like piece swings forward and is placed over the child’s nose. As the kid plays videogames or listens to music, nitrous oxide, an anesthetic gas, is emitted through the snorkel and puts the child to sleep.
I had to get a lot of dental work done one year, and I was just like “hey, I’m gunna listen to this book while you do this, if that’s ok. If you need me to pause just like tap my forehead or something”. If it was today I’d probably watch videos or something but this was like 10 years ago.
He was thrilled, said it’s kinda awkward sometimes to have a one-sided conversation, especially when the work takes a while. Dental work isn’t really something they need to talk to you about while doing it.
Maybe give that a try if you need future work done. :)