fuss for nothing

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dentist, fuss for nothing, health, painkillers, teeth, wisdom tooth

Well if I had known that getting your wisdom teeth out really isn’t bad I wouldn’t have freaked myself out.

Yesterday when I entered my dentist with knocking knees and trembling lips I was ready to be sedated, but when I sat down into that evil reclining chair the lovely Pakistani dental surgeon took one look at me and decided I didn’t need sedation after all.

With one eye on my x-ray and one measuring my cheek he ensured me that I wouldn’t need to be put under but that a needle would do the job. letting the expert decide I leaned back opened wide and quickly shut my mouth again when I saw the length of the needle ready to inject me with local anesthesia.

Digging deep, looking for my courage that was hiding behind every other emotion I have, I let the lovely dentist do his job and he promised it would be over in no time. And it was! In under ten minutes he had tugged and pulled my wisdom tooth from its home, leaving me with a gap and very surprised.

I couldn’t (and still can’t) believe how fast it was and how painless. Other than that long needle I didn’t feel a thing, and now thanks to a battery of painkillers I am doing fine and I am so sorry I made all that fuss for nothing.

Now all I hope is that the filling i need will be just as painless!

 

losing my wisdom

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dentist, health, quote, tooth, Walt Disney, wisdom tooth, wisdom tooth pulled

Today’s the day, my wisdom tooth has to go and at 5pm a man in white is taking it away. And I have to admit I am quite terrified about the whole procedure., but I don’t really have a choice and just want it to be over.

So while I know it is for the best, after all I am chewing the inside of my cheek and that is more than a little sore, I can’t help but try and talk myself out of it. After all – maybe, who knows, if my wisdom tooth goes so could any wise thoughts I may have.

And what is it with going to the dentist that is so horrific? Is it the smell, the sounds or just those big hands digging around in your mouth? And who, in their right minds, would ever consider becoming a dentist?

But no matter what the answer to these questions are I will just have to bite the bullet, open my mouth and let my tooth be pulled. And since the wisdom tooth is so close to it’s neighbour I have a bit of caries that needs attention too, woe is me as another visit to the dentist is on the books next week or so.

Luckily for me a friend will pick me up, even if I am in a doped up drooling state, and bring me home, so I will have a shoulder to cry on if all goes bad, and a hug even if all goes well.

But before my nightmare becomes real I have to lecture in my trembling state but I am sure my students will forgive me. And help me feel prepared I am charging my ipod shuffel in the hope it will play some soothing music to keep my calm in the chair.

And who knows maybe it won’t be as bad as I expect and maybe the hole in my jaw will fill up with brilliant thoughts and colourful dreams, making up for losing my wisdom.

You may not realise it when it happen, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.

Walt Disney

a trip to the dentist

Tags

cavities, cavity, dentist, panic, root canal, teeth, tooth, tooth extraction, wisdom tooth

Last week I started to feel a bit of an uncomfortable twinge on the left side of my jaw and panic set in.

I hate going to the dentist, have an absolute fear of those strange people who work all day with face-masks covering half their faces burrowing around in other peoples mouths. I avoid going as long as I can and then sit on the chair with sweaty palms and my heart beating faster than I ever think possible.

So when my jaw started to hurt I went into panic mode. But deciding to take a  plunge, things weren’t going to get better by ignoring it, I went to the dentist yesterday, dreadingly, images of root canals psyching me out.

But when I was there I found out that while yes, I do have a small cavity easily filled, no big deal, but that wasn’t what was bothering me, the source of my pain was my wisdom tooth.

In my late teens I had all four wisdom teeth removed, they hadn’t fully developed yet and since my jaw very tight there was no room for them to come out. I remember it well, it was painful  and really no fun.

Several years later a dentist told me that my upper left wisdom tooth was making an appearance, peaking out to view the world and I discovered that somehow I still had one of those buggers … either it redeveloped or I had five, which can happen.

For years now the wisdom tooth has been hanging around, half in half out and not really bothering me at all, except it was always hard to reach with the toothbrush. But now the tooth made the not so wise decision to fully erupt and cause me pain.

Since there is no space for it the tooth is gnawing at my cheek, irritating the gum, causing it to swell and become a little bit infected.  So now it needs to come out and a tooth extraction is now a feature in my calendar. And since the dentist couldn’t see if the root of this wisdom tooth reaches all the way up to my sinus it looks as if a specialist will be taking care of it. And I am so not happy about any of this, but I don’t have a choice.

The next few weeks will now be filled with nightmares, terror moments and panic attacks while I debate the question if I should chose to have sedation or not. Sadly they don’t give you the option to sleep through it at all, not even a wallop over your head is allowed.