Hi Nicole,
Yep, I felt the same way at first, like, I can't believe I'm even considering this!

The $2k was just for the dentist. I got our tickets on travelocity for $235 each. I figured the tickets, motel, rental car etc was another grand or so.

If you email Torrie, she'll give you a whole list of people you can contact who will describe their experiences. That way you can feel right about it before you get there. I had gone to another dentist here for an evaluation, so I knew already what I was looking at. He did do xrays, because I forgot to bring them.

I had it done April 20th, three weeks ago. The sedation was weird because I was sort of awake, like I could bite when he told me too, but I didn't feel anything. I was under for around 5 and a half hours, but not aware of any time passing. It was a pleasant feeling, like after you've eaten a big family dinner and you're just sitting around dazed and satisfied and listening to your family chatter, but not having to participate.

Afterwards I felt fine, maybe not quite up to sightseeing, but awake enough to ride back to the motel. I felt good enough that I could have gone home but for some reason I couldn't get a late flight out so we spent an extra night in the motel and left the next morning. I really liked the motel because it was really quiet. No partying teenagers running around at 11:00.

I really expected my husband to give me an argument because he thought Amalgams were perfectly safe, but he was surprisingly supportive of my decision to do it. And I was glad he went because he learned a lot from talking to the people in the waiting room and hearing what the dentist had to say about the procedures. And it was a really nice little vacation. On the other hand, taking your mom would be great because she can see firsthand what she'll need to do, and she'll take care of you!