Hello,   In this morning's  MassMoments  e-mail there is a story about when "ether" was first used in an operating room.    It was at MGH in Oct. 1846.          http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=299   I don't even want to think about all the .surgeries. in the 1600's to 1800's where "ether" was not available.   And, I don't even want to think about going to a dentist where Novocaine is not used.    When my parents could finally afford to send their children to a dentist, probably after 1950, I'm pretty sure even the first (old) dentist used Novocaine.     But, in the 1950's in Cambridge, my husband, as a teen, he had dental work - with no Novocaine or Ether, or anything.     :o(   Betty                 (near Lowell, MA)