Skeletons in Pakistan eight thousand years old show evidence of having their teeth penetrated, sometimes deeply, by flint-tipped drills. The scientists who described the find noted it was most common on molars which already showed decay and thus was likely intended to relieve pain.
COMMENT: Having one's molars drilled deeply is, I can attest, an uncomfortable thing with the most modern of tools and anesthetics. The pain imparted by the Neolithic procedure must have been indescribable. Given that, it's interesting to wonder why people underwent horrifically painful procedures that did not help them. After this trick had been tried on one patient, why would any others submit to it?
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