I had a dentist appointment this week. I had prepared by flossing EVERY DAY... for the week preceeding my visit. Years ago I had gotten 2 of my wisdom teeth out as part of a clinical study. I got an experimental pain medicine and $300. I was a lot better off than the kid who got the placebo. Anyway, I only got 2 teeth out because they were only extracting impacted wisdom teeth, and my other 2 were fully erupted. (Too bad because then I would have gotten another $300.) Since then I've not really thought about them too much, mostly because of my lack of insurance. Until Wednesday when I learned it was time for the other 2 to come out.
Post op: Oh my god. Let's just say that Dr. Chen is a very kind man. Despite weilding all manner of horrid objects and assaulting my poor mouth.
Honestly, I don't remember the other 2 teeth being this bad. Of course, $300 probably clouds my memory somewhat. This time I had to pay money, $95 in fact, which seemed like a bargain at the time.
Apparently I am a very sensitive indivdual, as evidence by the multitude of shots required to numb my mouth. Dr. Chen said that it also contains a small amount of epinephrine, which was probably why I sweated through my clothes and twitched while my heart raced. Then I felt nausesous. Then the Dr. began digging and prying around in my mouth, stopping several times to get more terrifying instruments and to shoot more anesthetic into me.
Why have we progressed so far in other areas of medicine, yet dentistry is still performed in a civil war like fashion? I don't know that there is anything worse than the sound of creaking and breaking teeth. Dr. Chen assured me it had nothing to do with my teeth and was just the sound of the instruments, but as far as I'm concerned, my teeth were screaming.
It took ages for the friggin teeth to come out. Seriously, for-fucking-ever. But after about 30 years, we were done. And now, all I can think about is how hungry I am and all the things that I can't eat because I can't open my mouth because the left side of my face is swollen.
But at least I don't have to go to work.
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2 comments:
Well at least we could watch some day time television such as divorce court and the most creepily amazing videos.
-Mini
Heh. I had one wisdom tooth removed last September and it wasn't so bad--the actual removing part wasn't. However, I felt sick for a few days afterward and my DH, who also got a tooth removed the same day, developed a cascading migraine once the shots wore off. And $95 is cheap! Our two teeth cost $500 (for both).
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