I had two of mine taken out when I was in the Air Force. I was 21 years old and this was around 1991 or so. I &#x2F;was&#x2F; put under (demoral + valium IV drip). My jaw is rather small (I have always had tight teeth, which makes flossing even a chore now), so they had to chip jaw fragments out of the way for the extractions. There simply was nowhere for new teeth to go.<p>In any case, I remember coming out of anesthesia and the doctor leaning over me, his bloody gloves now removed, and asking me how I was feeling. I was about to respond when, after a moment&#x27;s pause to catch my breath, I suddenly awoke to a very large male nurse giving me chest compressions. The doctor yelled, &quot;He&#x27;s back! He&#x27;s back!&quot; and he made the man stop. I groggily looked about and noticed a female nurse cowering in the corner. She was sobbing uncontrollably and soon ran out of the room (maybe not the best nurse, but I guess she had never &#x27;lost&#x27; someone before). I asked, fuzzy mouthed, what happened?<p>Apparently they pulled my IV out too soon and my forced dehydration and starvation made me faint once the fluids stopped. One of the possible side effects of fainting is a loss of  heart beat. They told me &quot;I had been dead&quot; (which was inaccurate) &quot;for about 90 seconds.&quot; What they meant was my heart had stopped beating for that long.<p>People always ask, so I&#x27;m obliged to say:
I saw no tunnel of light or flashing of my life before my eyes. It was simply total sleep-like darkness with absolutely no concept of time passing. It was as if I had made a long hard blink, and been told later 90 seconds had elapsed. For all I knew, two seconds had passed, much like a deep solid sleep: It&#x27;s not until you look at the clock that you know how much time has passed.<p>I had the other two wisdom teeth taken out at a dental school in Dallas. That was whole other ordeal. But I didn&#x27;t &quot;die&quot; that time, at least.