Dental Industry to Abolish 'Anesthesia' and Introduce 'Extreme Pain Plan': Redefining Nerve Stimulation as 'Brain Muscle Training'

The “All Japan Dental Empowerment Union (JDEU),” composed of dental clinics nationwide, announced on the 10th a policy to abolish the use of local anesthesia in principle at all member clinics starting from the 2026 fiscal year. The union has redefined direct nerve stimulation, previously categorized as “suffering,” as “high-intensity training for cerebral synapses.” With the slogan “No Pain, No Gain,” they will provide the “Extreme Pain Plan” as a standard service to encourage patients’ spiritual “awakening.”

Behind this lies the fusion of the recent overheating muscle training boom and the self-improvement market. Gouriki Hataro, the chairman of JDEU and author of the best-selling book Why Top Executives Bleed from Their Gums, spoke passionately at a press conference: “By escaping into the ‘safe zone (comfort zone)’ named anesthesia, modern people have lost their wildness. The spark at the moment the drill touches the nerve is the only solution to break through a stagnant mindset.”

In the newly introduced “Awakening Route Treatment,” EDM or heavy metal is played at high volume and heavy bass in synchronization with the drill’s rotation speed. Screams uttered by patients during treatment are defined as “Soul Roars (Soul Shout),” and a system has been established where points are awarded for higher decibel counts, indicating “high self-expression ability.” Furthermore, a “Mental Spotter” service has been launched as an option, where dental assistants shout encouragements into the patient’s ear like “Push it! The nerve isn’t dead yet!” or “Pain is proof you’re alive!”, and reservations are said to be flooding in.

Market reaction has been more positive than expected. Particularly in the startup circles of the city center, a culture is taking root where patients boast of their heavily swollen cheeks after surgery as “facial pump-up,” a mark of a successful person. On SNS, it has become a trend to post selfies with comments like “Exceeded my limits in yesterday’s session (tooth extraction)” while maintaining the swelling without using ice packs. It is believed that adrenaline secretion due to pain temporarily improves work performance, and it is not uncommon to see businessmen lining up during lunch time seeking a “Quick Extreme Pain.”

On the other hand, medical concerns are not nonexistent. The director of the Pain Research Center at Toto University’s Faculty of Medicine points out, “Describing fainting due to shock as a ‘Deep Meditation’ in medical records is clearly against medical ethics,” but the industry dismisses it as “nothing more than a ‘Reboot’ process of consciousness.” In the future, they plan to expand the “Foundation Pile Driving Course” for implant surgery, where bolts are driven directly with a hammer instead of drilling holes, and the “stoicization” of the dental industry knows no bounds.

This rebranding has transformed pain from a symptom to be avoided into content to be consumed. The depth of the karma of modern people, who believe that even the pain of a cavity is food for self-growth, is turning the sound of the drill echoing in the treatment room into a rhapsody.

Stakeholder Comments

• Gouriki Hataro (Chairman, All Japan Dental Empowerment Union): “Anesthesia is a weakness. Innovation doesn’t happen in a life relying on lidocaine.”
• Startup CEO (30s male): “After enduring root canal treatment without anesthesia, I’m no longer afraid of negotiating with investors. The pain of pulling a nerve is the ultimate KPI.”
• Dental Assistant & Trainer: “We are trained to believe that a patient’s ‘It hurts!’ is a synonym for ‘I can do more!’”
• The Tooth Nerve (Affected area): “I never expected to be treated like a dumbbell in a gym. I’m being stimulated so intensely, I’m on the verge of snapping.”
• Mr. High-Speed Turbine Drill: “A session between my 400,000 RPM singing voice and the patient’s scream. This is true rock.”
• Calm Anesthesiologist: “It’s madness. But it’s also a fact that many people are tripping on internal anesthetic substances while enduring pain.”
• Medical Chair Manufacturer Representative: “We increased the strength of the restraint belts threefold so they won’t break even if patients writhe in agony.”
• Accounting Personnel: “The cost of anesthetics has become zero, and the profit margin has skyrocketed. It’s truly alchemy turning pain into gold.”
• Influencer with a Swollen Cheek Fetish: “An asymmetrical face line is the fruit of effort. Symmetry is so outdated.”
• Wisdom Tooth: “My recent hobby is watching the host’s perspective on life change due to the impact when I’m pulled out.”

International Expressions

Haiku

• Swollen cheeks / A mark of / A successful man
• Drill ringing / A howl in the night / Without anesthesia
• In the root canal / Echoing extreme pain / Spring thunder
• Treatment without pain / Has passed away / The Showa era
• Even screams / Shall be included in the evaluation / Performance review
• Shaving teeth / Shaving the heart / The path of training
• Pumped up / A red flower bloomed / On the cheek
• A queue / To buy extreme pain / Early afternoon
• The death agony of the nerve / Is the song of life
• The high-pitched whine / The drill is the cicada buzz / of the city

Kanji / Chinese Characters

• Total Abolition of Anesthesia in the Dental Industry
• Transformation of Extreme Pain Procedures into Self-Improvement
• Nerve Stimulation as Muscle Training for the Brain
• Praise for Screams as Soul Roars
• Boasting of Post-Surgery Facial Swelling

Emoji

🦷⚡🚫💉➡️🧠💪🔥 😫🎤🎶💺🔗 🧟‍♂️🤳📈💰🏙️ 👨‍⚕️📣🔨🦷💥

Onomatopoeia

Whirrrrrrrrrrrr! Gyaaaaaaaaaaa! Throb, throb. Pounding, pounding. Thump, thump (pulsation). Twitch, twitch. Pant, pant… Clap, clap, clap (applause). Rattle, rattle (vibration). Ping! (Shiny teeth). Bulk up (swollen cheeks).

SNS

• #NoPainNoGain #Dentistry
• Pushed myself in root canal treatment today. No anesthesia is basic.
• The swelling in my cheek won’t go down… best pump ever 💪
• You’re still using anesthesia? Are you still wasting your life?
• Finished #DentalBootCamp! Almost lost consciousness lol
• Pain makes me stronger. Cavities are a gift from God.
• Got a scream score of 98! Definitely making the rankings.
• Pulled a nerve instead of lunch. My concentration this afternoon is insane.
• A dentist saying "Just a little more" means "3 more sets."
• 3-month waitlist for the #ExtremePainPlan…