Here's a pretty brilliant invention by some scientists in England.  With their invention, trips to the dentist might NOT be the most awful thing in the world anymore.  They'll still be awful, just not the MOST awful thing in the world.

The team has invented a special chip that attaches to the earphones on your iPod . . . and blocks the sound of the drill.

The chip works like noise-cancelling headphones.

It's designed to only filter out the sound waves that match the drill . . . so you can still hear your music, hear the dentist talking, hear the suction thing they jam in your mouth . . . just not the drilling sound.

Dr. Mark Atherton of Brunel University was one of the developers.  He says, quote, "The dental drill noise is so distinctive that the brain recognizes it and people hear it [and have] anxiety.  They dread it."  This chip will help people overcome that fear.

The chip is in prototype form right now, but Atherton says that when it's ready to go to market, it will be cheap enough that all dentists will be able to easily afford it for their offices.

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