I have no idea what "pops" are, but I'll guess they are some variant of opiate.  Far as what Dentists give you for pain, it's usually oxycodone and the dosages they give you aren't enough to get you high.  Usually 5mg.  I take 10mg oxy 3 times a day, I don't get "woozy" at all and it barely scratches the pain.  Currently I'm backing off it because my tolerance is so high and the only way I could bring down the pain is by probably tripling the dose, which the pain doctor would be unwilling to do.  Using opiates for pain management is entirely different from using them to get high.  You need much larger doses and you need to either smoke it (opium) or take it intravenously.

Far as getting woozy goes, that's an effect of low doses of opiates taken orally, not unlike the effect of alcohol.  Totally different than the effects of Cocaine, which sharpens your senses rather than dulling them.  Way, way different than hallucinogens, which make you experience things more vividly as well as experience what is going on inside your own unconscious mind, which normally you can't experience.

Not sure how a scientists perspective on drugs is any different than anyone else's, since many scientists use them, probably in similar numbers to the rest of the population.  I know many doctors do.  Why do they do them?  Because they tried them and they enjoyed the experience.  Opiates might not be your cup of tea, I don't like them either besides for the pain management aspect.  Cocaine though is very enjoyable for me and many others who can afford it.  I'm sure Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos sniff plenty. lol.  Certainly popular on Wall St and the City of London.  Hallucinogens also a blast, and much cheaper.  Anyhow, as a scientist, you have no point of reference on them without trying them.  You can't understand it by observing other people taking them, any more than you can understand why another person likes the smell of a particular perfume you don't like.  The sensory experience is specific to the individual, you can't know another person's experience, only your own.  Until you try it, it's a complete black box.

RE