Dental anguish
I went to the dentist yesterday, and found out thatâas I had fearedâI will have to have my rogue upper-left wisdom tooth removed. Iâve already had both lower wisdom teeth out as I donât have enough room on my lower jaw for even the full adult set of teeth, but I was hoping that I might get away with the upper one. Being the kind of free-thinking, radical, out-there tooth that it is, this wisdom tooth seems to have decided that growing straight down is for squares, and that jutting out at a jaunty angle would be much more groovy. Itâs now poking into my cheek in a somewhat uncomfortable way, and generally making a nuisance of itself when it comes to brushing the other teeth.
The dentist breezily said that she could âslip the tooth outâ very quickly, but previous experience tells me nothing about the process is either easy or painless. What makes it all the more galling is the expense; I can afford it and still pay the rent, but if Iâm going to spend £70 on anything, I would much rather blow it on something fun like a few nice meals out or some CDsâanything but a couple of days of intense pain and soup-eating.
I just thank my lucky stars that I donât have an exotic but complicated dental condition like sarah.
1
"They" say that removing upper wisdom teeth won't hurt as much as removing lower wisdom teeth. That said, my upper wisdom teeth are still there. So basically, I wouldn't know!
I would rather blow my money on something else, too.----- Wisdom teeth are a pain
I've had all four of mine out. The first at the dentist ... "you're much better off letting me take it out, I wont rush like they do in hospital" ... hmmm. It took 45 minutes, the tooth needed to be cut in half before it would come out, and I was in agony for a week (probably not what you want to hear).
Two others were taken out in one trip to hospital; and it was a much better experience. From what I remember I only took parecetamol for a couple of days, and it was fine.
Oddly, I have a whole in my memory as well as my head regarding the fourth one (so I guess that wasn't too traumatic either).
And, finally, stock up on Ibuprofen - it's much more effective for dental pain than any of the other painkillers. Good luck!
by djn1 @ 16/03/2004 10:04 pm • Permalink •
2
Yes, definitely stock up on ibuprofen!
I had all four of mine out over the space of three years. They all grew in just fine, but there just wasn't enough room in my mouth--no pain, just impossible to get behind them with a tooth brush. The resulting decay was, needless to say, extremely bad after some time.
The first tooth broke into little pieces, requiring the surgeon to dig a bit into the gum. The second one was painless, though hard enough to get out that the surgeon actually climbed up onto the chair to brace himself as he leaned back with all of his weight. The last two, out at the same time, were quick and painless.
by Nathan Ladd @ 17/03/2004 12:04 am • Permalink •
3
I had my upper left wisdom tooth out a few months ago, and while it was decidedly odd, the only thing that I really didn't like about it was the anastaethic. I have a hatred for loosing feeling in my face.
The actual tooth removal didn't hurt.
by Clair @ 17/03/2004 9:04 am • Permalink •
4
AP: Iâve heard that too, though Iâm not sure I believe it.
djn1 and Nathan Ladd: Are you trying to terrify me? Itâs workingâ¦
Clair: Well letâs hope that my experience is like yours.
I had another dilemma which I forgot to write about; itâs my birthday a week next Monday, so I had to decide whether I wanted to get it done before (and risk having to eat liquidised birthday cake) or after (and be worrying about it on my birthday). I went for getting it over with, so the fateful day is next Tuesday. :-*
by bsag @ 17/03/2004 6:03 pm • Permalink •
5
Well, just to help clarify: each of the procedures was painless for me. I didn't feel a thing, painwise. The only sensation was of a huge--no, tremendous!--pressure while he pried the tooth out.
The ibuprofen is for afterwards. It's not overly painful, just sore. Unless you do something you're not supposed to before it's healed (say, drinking something through a straw, for example.) Take the warnings of "dry socket" seriously, and you'll be okay.
The only real "icky" part, I'd think, reminds me of what I love about the print edition of The Onion : "Passerby were amazed at the unusually large amounts of blood".
by Nathan Ladd @ 17/03/2004 7:04 pm • Permalink •
6
ha - one good thing, I suppose, is that I won't get Wisdom Teeth :D
best of luck, anyway, I've never had a rooted-tooth removed so I don't know if it's as painful as a baby tooth removed without anaesthetic, but my gosh, that one hurt. It'll be worth a relatively niggly-free future!
by sarah @ 17/03/2004 7:04 pm • Permalink •
7
Are you still not working? If so, can't you sign on, and then get it paid for in that way? Lots of paperwork, yes, but it would be worth it for the financial saving.
My upper right wisdom tooth was small and easy to remove. (There wasn't room for it, despite its meagre size.) As for my upper left, that monster was growing into the next tooth along, so my dentist said the best thing would be to remove the perfectly healthy tooth that was being attacked instead, to leave more room for the wisdom tooth to grow into. It was relatively painless, although I was surprised by the way the dentist had to really yank away at it from side to side to get it out; somehow the process seemed so medieval in comparison to the way in which much of modern medicine shields you from such basic practices.
A couple of years later, and the monster has continued on its forward march, and is now almost touching the next tooth along. In size, its a horror. I'm convinced it's eventual goal is total mouth domination!
Good luck for next Tuesday - it'll be a doddle - and make sure you get to take the tooth home, if you're allowed to. Not that I can think of anything you can really do with a tooth that's been taken out, but it's interesting to examine for a few minutes, if only to marvel at the size of the roots!
by David (TEFL Smiler) @ 18/03/2004 8:03 pm • Permalink •
8
Being a pedant, I have to correct two typos in my last comment: "it's" and "its", both of which I've got wrong... in the same sentence. Some things are worse than dental surgery! (...Apart from having the dentist drill a hole into a tooth containing a rotten nerve; that stench is one of the worst things I've ever smelt - and it was coming from my own mouth at the time! Not fun.)
by David (TEFL Smiler) @ 18/03/2004 9:03 pm • Permalink •
9
David (TEFL Smiler): I've got a part-time job, and during term time I'm doing loads of tutorial teaching to make a few extra quid, so signing on isn't on (if you see what I mean). Your fascist wisdom tooth seems extremely alarming! I don't know if they'll give me the tooth this time, but I've had lots of teeth out (really--lots) so somewhere I have a scary box full of teeth. I'm keeping them in case I have a tooth-related emergency, or I discover the tooth fairy does exist. And don't worry about the misplaced apostrophes...
by bsag @ 19/03/2004 8:03 pm • Permalink •
10
I just got my wisdom teeth pulled. Due to a freak of nature, I had six. So now I have a mouthful of stitches and everything I swallow tastes like blood. Strange to say, I am practically in no pain. Although my cheeks are so swollen that I resemble a chipmunk, I am getting by on 2 Ibuprofen a day. I also have Vicodin, but since I have exams coming up I decided it would be better not to take it. The only thing that really annoys me is living on jello, yogurt, and ice cream. The sickly taste of processed sugar is driving me crazy! Also, I have to rinse with warm salt water after each meal, and it leaves an absolutely disgusting taste in my mouth. But I think what most people worry about- sheer and utter agony - I have not experienced.
by Lu @ 29/03/2004 10:03 pm • Permalink •
11
By the way, consider yourself lucky that you only have to spend 70 pounds! My operation cost over $1300!
by Lu @ 29/03/2004 10:03 pm • Permalink •
Page 1 of 1 pages