I love to laugh at some of the shlocky commercials that air on my local cable station. One features a
sleazy, Bill Murray-type lounge singer earnestly pitching $14.95 shrimp dinners at a local bistro (er, no thanks). Another hawks something called ‘sedation dentistry,’ trumpeting it as a breakthrough solution for an angst-riddled society. Come again? Sedation dentistry?

Yes, indeed. And, in a true problem-solution approach, the dentist promoting the sedation therapy warns that more and more Americans are avoiding the dentist chair because of anxiety. As a result, he says, they suffer such serious consequences as gum disease, tooth erosion and god knows what else.

Happily, though, there’s a solution: sedation dentistry. And, it’s so effective that one patient beams, ‘I remember sitting down in the chair and then I don’t remember anything else until I left.’

Excuse me, but that’s more than a little scary. In fact, it conjures up all sorts of bizarre scenarios (i.e. the Seinfeld episode in which Jerry wakes up to see his disheveled dentist and nurse quickly buttoning up their tunics).

Sure, shlocky commercials are a hoot. But, when they raise more questions than they answer, one might question the cost-benefit ratio (not to mention the image and reputation of the advertiser).

Sedation dentistry may be an alternative for a few antsy folks. But I, for one, want to have my wits about me when someone is drilling deeply into my oral cavity. That said, I may sedate myself the next time I see that woman pop up on my screen.