Novocain has not been used in like 20 years. We use Lidocain (90% of the time, and with Epi), Articaine, Bupivicain, and sometimes Septocain. Novocain (really called Procain), sucks ass, does not last long, and is toxic to muscles and nerves. So stop asking the dentist for more Novocain

The gland check is so you dont die of cancer. Your lymph from your head drains into your neck, so we check em. Also good for checking for infection into one of the fascial spaces.
I saw a 27 year old girl about three months ago. She had swollen cervical lymph nodes, with a red ulcerated lesion on the lateral boarder of her tongue. Took a biopsy and treated her with a 24 tablet pack of prednisone. Biopsy came back, and it was squamous cell carcinoma. She thought she had bitten her tongue and it was infected. She didnt smoke or drink, which is the high risk factors for SCC.
She will now lose half her tongue if she is lucky, not to mention chemo and radiation.
I see shit like this, and it really makes you wonder about stuff.
But I will agree, getting your face numb sucks asshole. When we learned how to give injections in dental school, we did 5 a day on each other. So on Monday, I got 5 in different nerves, Tuesday it was my turn to give them to my partner, and so on. Did it for a whole week. Not near as much fun as the NO2 lab. Talk about sucking ass. 99% of what we learn is by draggin the needle down the bone till we found the target, since we sucked at intraoral landmarks. Scrape the periosteum and you will know what pain is.