"All I remember is hearing someone saying, 'Kathy, open your mouth,'" said Horgan, a Bayville resident who used to put off dental visits because she was petrified of the pain and discomfort.

Here's how nap dentistry works. Patients take a pill at home an hour prior to their dental appointment. In Horgan's case the pill was a sedative called triazolam. It made her too drowsy to drive, so her husband, George, shuttled her to and from her appointment.

Once she arrived in Rotem's office, she was hooked up to a small monitor, which allowed the dentist to keep an eye on her pulse and blood oxygen level during the dental work. Then, she downed a second pill containing more triazolam.

Horgan would end up taking three .25 mg doses of the medication, a generic form of Halcion, which is primarily used as a sleeping pill. Rotem said he chooses this sedative because it is rapidly absorbed and eliminated by the body. But the medication also carries warnings for pregnant women and is potentially habit-forming.

"Some people may not need to take three pills. Everybody's a little different when it comes to how they react in the chair," Rotem said.

Horgan also received a local anesthetic to numb her mouth.

Throughout the procedure, she was able to respond to requests like "open wider" and was showered with praise by Rotem's dental hygienists when she cooperated.

"You want them to remember a positive experience," said Rotem.

Horgan remained in the office for at least an hour following the procedure. Rotem said he wants his patients to be alert and responsive before leaving. He also phones them in the evening to see how they're doing.

Horgan, like Rotem's other nap dentistry patients, is willing to shell out extra money to help her forget the whole experience. Rotem estimated the cost to the patient, depending on how many pills are necessary, could run about $300 to $500 a visit. Insurance generally doesn't cover the costs, because this type of sedation is not deemed "medically necessary."

Authorities are closely watching the use of pharmacological agents for dental sedation. The New Jersey Board of Dentistry is drafting regulations that would require minimum levels of training and a special general anesthesia permit before someone could practice this type of dentistry.

"Right now, the regulations are in the review process and are being designed to ensure that every single scenario (of sedation) is covered," said Genene Morris, a board spokeswoman.

Maxine Feinberg, president of the New Jersey Dental Association, admits she is not a fan of nap dentistry. Of particular concern to her are Dentists who may be doing the procedure without having proper emergency equipment in their offices.

"I think it is playing with fire," she said.

A policy statement on the Web site of the American Dental Association notes "the use of conscious sedation, deep sedation and general anesthesia in dentistry is safe and effective when properly administered by trained individuals." The ADA recommends dentists complete an advanced education program or an ADA accredited post-doctoral training program.

"Our concern is that the outcome might be a patient who is sedated beyond the level of training the dentist has," said Joel M. Weaver, an ADA spokesman who is also director of anesthesiology at the Ohio State University College of Dentistry.

Rotem, a member of the Dental Organization for Conscious Sedation, said he has all the prerequisites to ensure patient safety. He says has taken continuing education courses and practices nap dentistry in supervised clinical settings. His dental suite also is equipped with a defibrillator, a device capable of restarting a heart that has stopped beating. And he only uses nap dentistry on adults.

Doreen Laskey, 47, of Toms River, said she is sold on the technique. Before she found Rotem and his Center for Exceptional Cosmetic and Adult Dentistry through an advertisement, she almost never smiled. For 16 years, she avoided seeing a dentist, although her teeth caused her enormous pain.

Once she agreed to be seen by Rotem last November, Laskey wasted no time playing catch-up. On her first visit, she had seven tooth extractions, four root canals, a gum scraping and several old fillings removed. The very next day, she sat down and ate Thanksgiving dinner.

"I have almost no recollection of that visit at all, just snippets of conversation, but not of that horrible drilling sound," she said.

Laskey said her experience with nap dentistry has transformed more than her teeth. It has changed her life.

"I smile now, when I never did before. I am much more outgoing, even with strangers. My whole personality has changed," she said.