Don: Time to go again to the A Moment of Science mailbag. A listener writes:

     Dear Yaël and Don,
     I really, really, really hate going to the dentist. If I need a filling or root canal, I'm      literally terrified. What can I do to make the experience less frightening?

Yaël: That's a good question. I'm sure many of our listeners share similar fears. So you      might want to try hypnosis.

D: Wait. What does hypnosis have to do with going to the dentist?

Y: Well, you know how dentists use nitrous oxide to sedate patients?

D: Laughing gas?

Y: Right. So, some dentists believe that laughing gas makes patients more suggestible.      In other words, going under the gas makes you more open to being hypnotized and      made to believe that the treatment won't be painful, that you should relax, and so on.

D: Is this a real phenomenon, or is it just something that a few dentists think is true?

Y: That's what scientists at University College, London wanted to figure out. So they      had thirty study participants breathe through gas masks. Some inhaled regular air and      some received nitrous oxide. Then the participants were tested for imaginative      suggestibility. For example, they were told to imagine tasting something sour, and that      the sour taste in their mouth would get stronger. The study found that laughing gas      increased imaginative suggestibility by about ten percent.

D: Interesting. So maybe hypnosis is the cure for dental phobia.

Y: Maybe. More research needs to be done to see if different amounts of nitrous oxide      work better than others. But it seems to be a positive step towards making dental      work less frightening.  

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