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Dental patients: keep your guns at home.

A 72-year-old Ohio man learned this the hard way after accidentally accidentally shooting himself after receiving a dose of Nitrous-oxide (also known as laughing gas) and reaching for what he believed was his ringing cell phone, authorities said.

A Ohio man is recovering after accidentally shooting himself during a dentist's appointment. WCMH-TV COLUMBUS

Instead, James Short grabbed his pistol, firing it and striking himself in the hand, NBC affiliate WCMH reported. The bullet also grazed Short’s stomach.

Short, who was scheduled on Thursday to receive a filling at New Carlisle Dental Group, northeast of Dayton, had a concealed-carry permit for the gun, according to the station, and the dentist did not ban concealed weapons.

Sgt. Christina Evans-Fisher of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office offered the incident as a warning: "If you’re going to a doctor’s office where you might be put under some kind of medication that might alter your mental status ... you might not want to carry a weapon."