The Ordinariness of Wisdom Teeth
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012 07:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amarie24Alrighty!!!
So I promised you all a blog post on my experience in getting my wisdom teeth out, didn’t I? Well…here it is!!
First of all, I initially had absolutely no idea that the very, very, very, very painful sensation in the back of my mouth was because of my wisdom teeth. Heck, I didn’t even know that I had wisdom teeth to begin with! Now isn’t that sad? Or, err…funny.
But the pain was terribly intense. It was in the back of my mouth, right in my gum. Originally, I had thought that I’d accidentally banged my toothbrush back there. But it hurt so terribly and it went on for a few days at most, then receded back. It felt like someone was taking a huge, jagged piece of glass and pushing it into the back of my gums. Sometimes I would wake up at 3 o’clock in the morning because I was in so much pain.
And then, of course, I suffered from infection in my throat and ears. The back of my gum was bleeding continually, and that excessive bleeding contributed to a lot of bacteria growth. At first I tried to use cough drops (they worked like a charm…for an hour) and I would feel a little sick when I could hear a crinkling in my left ear. *shudders*
I figured that there was something else going on.
So I told my mom and she was a bit skeptical that my toothbrush just hadn’t slipped. But either way, we went to our family practitioner…
…And indeed, I did have an infection. Luckily, my tonsils were perfectly safe; it was really just the back of my throat and, by my canal, parts of my ear. Our doctor prescribed me some antibiotics and Ibuprofen that I had to be Wonder Woman to swallow and concluded that it was actually my back tooth that was pushing into my gum. So, she also referred me to a dentist.
Now, my mother and I ended up going back to the dental practice that we had always gone to when my sister and I were children. Sadly, our dentist (heck, he was pretty much the dentist for our whole small town) had died a few years before. We had all felt pretty close to him; this was a guy that had taken care of my mother, sister, and me for as long as we could remember. And he’d taken care of us well.
When we pulled into the driveway, we could almost feel a bit of a somber atmosphere; it was kind of out of tune with the sunny day. But then again, the parking lot was mostly empty, so there’s that. And my mom, for the record, wasn’t too happy; we had no idea who this new dentist was nor if he/she was good. In turn, I was anxious because I just wanted the pain in my mouth to go away and I really didn’t want to deal with a dentists that had no idea what they were doing.
Mom went inside…
…And came back out with a huge smile on her face.
It turned out that the dental practice was closed on Fridays, which was, incidentally, the day we went. But the very dentist herself literally just waved us inside with a firm, but cheery “Come on in!” In addition to that, she was the only person there besides an electrician that was working on the computers or something else. Ooohhh…that won some points with my mom and me.
Scratch that. A lot of points. And, of course, it made me feel hopeful and elated; I was getting just that much closer to getting rid of the pain in my mouth!
So the new dentist talked to my mother and I, and got our medical history, our experiences, what kind of dental insurance we had, etc. Because the dentist was alone, there was no secretarial/assistant staff. Therefore, she had to-and did-set up our appointment. She took a look in my mouth (I never stop feeling awkward when they sit you in the examining chair and the push you all the way back and turn on the overhead light…).
Now, mind you: she put on gloves. And a mask. Remember that, my friends…remember those details.
She concluded that the problem, in fact, was that my wisdom teeth were steadily pushing into my gums. As my gums weren’t large/long enough to accommodate such a space, my teeth were pushing back to make space for themselves. Cue the bleeding and the infection.
In addition to that, she wanted me to get my teeth cleaned after I had my surgery. I kid you all not that I hadn’t had my teeth cleaned since…high school. Maybe even earlier. *ducks down head in oral-health-and-hygiene shame* v.v
My mother and I did not feel that the bedside manner was honed well. In fact, we didn’t feel like the skill was there at all. The smiles from behind the receptionists’ desk were plastic. The tones were brisk and curt. We waited for possibly three hours before we were finally seen by the surgeon. Maybe the assistant smiled when she took an x-ray of my teeth.
I think the worst part was when we were in the examination room and the assistant was gathering our information; she straightened up from her position over her clipboard, pointed to my mother and asked, “Amarie, who is this with you?” I answered her and, without so much as looking at my mother, she went back to writing down in her clipboard.
No hello. No wave. No smile. Not even the courtesy not to point.
And my mother became the Frost Goddess that we know her as when she’s Pissed and Uncomfortable. And then (after several hours of waiting, mind you), the dental surgeon finally came in. He looked into my mouth. Sans gloves. Sans mask.
Negative double points for my mom. And a whole lot of awkwardness for me as she seethed from her chair and the assistants carried on like there wasn’t a care in the world.
But…I really liked my oral surgeon otherwise. He came in and shook both mine and my mother’s hand. He introduced himself, smiled at us, cracked a few jokes and then got on with the program. After looking at my x-ray, he smiled and said, “Okay. I’ve got good news and bad news.” Of course, I said I wanted the bad news first. The bad news was that I, indeed, needed to get my wisdom teeth taken out; they were pushing into my gums and it would only be a few years before I could possibly have irreversible damage. The good news was that I only had three of them.
Still, another assistant came in and actually started small talk with us. Heck, she even patted my shoulder as we left.
So, then! My mother and I went home. I had to rinse my mouth out using the worst oral rinse you’ve ever tasted so that my risk of infection during surgery was lowered. Seriously; at first, I thought fresh, hot asphalt would have tasted better. Ironically, when you rinsed your mouth out with water right after, the taste only got worse. But, the good news was that as I continued to use it, it just began to taste like really, really strong mint.
The morning of my surgery dawned bright and early. Since my mother and I were the first ones there, we didn’t have to wait very long at all. Which…didn’t help my nerves very much, to be honest. I hadn’t been very nervous when I thought about getting my wisdom teeth pulled, but when the time came closer and closer, my agitation grew quite a bit.
However, I found that there was nothing to worry about. The assistants were actually…nice. And warm. And patient. The one who had rudely pointed at my mother smiled and asked me twice if I needed to go to the bathroom before we started. I didn’t, and we went to the back to Room 1. I was made to lie down on the examination table. The rest of what happened made ‘Holy Shit, get me out of here!!!’ ring through my head. They wrapped me from the chest down in a thick, wool blanket. Put a timed blood pressure cuff on me. Hooked me up to an IV. Put a white, wrap-around thingy up my nose and I’m proud of my vocabulary there. Put that thingy on my finger that measures how much oxygen is in my blood (again, I’m proud of my vocabulary, so leave me alone).
But…
It honestly wasn’t all that bad because the assistant that had patted my arm was in the room with me. The entire time that she set me up for my surgery, she spoke to me. Heck, we even got on the subject of pedicures and manicures.
And so when the doctor came out, kindly started small talk with me, and injected me with that which would make me go to sleep…I was perfectly alright.
When I next woke up, my mom was either helping me from the car or strapping my seat belt on for me (for the life of me, I honestly can’t remember) and then I was in my bed. I think I woke up around 4:30, which meant that I was pretty much sleeping all day. I was a little sore, I couldn’t talk, and I didn’t eat any solid foods.
And, well…I was perfectly alright again, haha! By the next day, I could slowly eat solids and I honestly didn’t have any pain; just a mild soreness. When I opened my mouth wide in front of a mirror, all I could see was nice, pink, health gum in the back. I didn’t even bleed all that much, and you can imagine how much that was a relief.
So…my wisdom teeth were taken out and I’m still here, alive and kicking!
Has anyone else gotten their wisdom teeth taken out? :D
So I promised you all a blog post on my experience in getting my wisdom teeth out, didn’t I? Well…here it is!!
First of all, I initially had absolutely no idea that the very, very, very, very painful sensation in the back of my mouth was because of my wisdom teeth. Heck, I didn’t even know that I had wisdom teeth to begin with! Now isn’t that sad? Or, err…funny.
But the pain was terribly intense. It was in the back of my mouth, right in my gum. Originally, I had thought that I’d accidentally banged my toothbrush back there. But it hurt so terribly and it went on for a few days at most, then receded back. It felt like someone was taking a huge, jagged piece of glass and pushing it into the back of my gums. Sometimes I would wake up at 3 o’clock in the morning because I was in so much pain.
And then, of course, I suffered from infection in my throat and ears. The back of my gum was bleeding continually, and that excessive bleeding contributed to a lot of bacteria growth. At first I tried to use cough drops (they worked like a charm…for an hour) and I would feel a little sick when I could hear a crinkling in my left ear. *shudders*
I figured that there was something else going on.
So I told my mom and she was a bit skeptical that my toothbrush just hadn’t slipped. But either way, we went to our family practitioner…
…And indeed, I did have an infection. Luckily, my tonsils were perfectly safe; it was really just the back of my throat and, by my canal, parts of my ear. Our doctor prescribed me some antibiotics and Ibuprofen that I had to be Wonder Woman to swallow and concluded that it was actually my back tooth that was pushing into my gum. So, she also referred me to a dentist.
Now, my mother and I ended up going back to the dental practice that we had always gone to when my sister and I were children. Sadly, our dentist (heck, he was pretty much the dentist for our whole small town) had died a few years before. We had all felt pretty close to him; this was a guy that had taken care of my mother, sister, and me for as long as we could remember. And he’d taken care of us well.
When we pulled into the driveway, we could almost feel a bit of a somber atmosphere; it was kind of out of tune with the sunny day. But then again, the parking lot was mostly empty, so there’s that. And my mom, for the record, wasn’t too happy; we had no idea who this new dentist was nor if he/she was good. In turn, I was anxious because I just wanted the pain in my mouth to go away and I really didn’t want to deal with a dentists that had no idea what they were doing.
Mom went inside…
…And came back out with a huge smile on her face.
It turned out that the dental practice was closed on Fridays, which was, incidentally, the day we went. But the very dentist herself literally just waved us inside with a firm, but cheery “Come on in!” In addition to that, she was the only person there besides an electrician that was working on the computers or something else. Ooohhh…that won some points with my mom and me.
Scratch that. A lot of points. And, of course, it made me feel hopeful and elated; I was getting just that much closer to getting rid of the pain in my mouth!
So the new dentist talked to my mother and I, and got our medical history, our experiences, what kind of dental insurance we had, etc. Because the dentist was alone, there was no secretarial/assistant staff. Therefore, she had to-and did-set up our appointment. She took a look in my mouth (I never stop feeling awkward when they sit you in the examining chair and the push you all the way back and turn on the overhead light…).
Now, mind you: she put on gloves. And a mask. Remember that, my friends…remember those details.
She concluded that the problem, in fact, was that my wisdom teeth were steadily pushing into my gums. As my gums weren’t large/long enough to accommodate such a space, my teeth were pushing back to make space for themselves. Cue the bleeding and the infection.
In addition to that, she wanted me to get my teeth cleaned after I had my surgery. I kid you all not that I hadn’t had my teeth cleaned since…high school. Maybe even earlier. *ducks down head in oral-health-and-hygiene shame* v.v
My mother and I did not feel that the bedside manner was honed well. In fact, we didn’t feel like the skill was there at all. The smiles from behind the receptionists’ desk were plastic. The tones were brisk and curt. We waited for possibly three hours before we were finally seen by the surgeon. Maybe the assistant smiled when she took an x-ray of my teeth.
I think the worst part was when we were in the examination room and the assistant was gathering our information; she straightened up from her position over her clipboard, pointed to my mother and asked, “Amarie, who is this with you?” I answered her and, without so much as looking at my mother, she went back to writing down in her clipboard.
No hello. No wave. No smile. Not even the courtesy not to point.
And my mother became the Frost Goddess that we know her as when she’s Pissed and Uncomfortable. And then (after several hours of waiting, mind you), the dental surgeon finally came in. He looked into my mouth. Sans gloves. Sans mask.
Negative double points for my mom. And a whole lot of awkwardness for me as she seethed from her chair and the assistants carried on like there wasn’t a care in the world.
But…I really liked my oral surgeon otherwise. He came in and shook both mine and my mother’s hand. He introduced himself, smiled at us, cracked a few jokes and then got on with the program. After looking at my x-ray, he smiled and said, “Okay. I’ve got good news and bad news.” Of course, I said I wanted the bad news first. The bad news was that I, indeed, needed to get my wisdom teeth taken out; they were pushing into my gums and it would only be a few years before I could possibly have irreversible damage. The good news was that I only had three of them.
Still, another assistant came in and actually started small talk with us. Heck, she even patted my shoulder as we left.
So, then! My mother and I went home. I had to rinse my mouth out using the worst oral rinse you’ve ever tasted so that my risk of infection during surgery was lowered. Seriously; at first, I thought fresh, hot asphalt would have tasted better. Ironically, when you rinsed your mouth out with water right after, the taste only got worse. But, the good news was that as I continued to use it, it just began to taste like really, really strong mint.
The morning of my surgery dawned bright and early. Since my mother and I were the first ones there, we didn’t have to wait very long at all. Which…didn’t help my nerves very much, to be honest. I hadn’t been very nervous when I thought about getting my wisdom teeth pulled, but when the time came closer and closer, my agitation grew quite a bit.
However, I found that there was nothing to worry about. The assistants were actually…nice. And warm. And patient. The one who had rudely pointed at my mother smiled and asked me twice if I needed to go to the bathroom before we started. I didn’t, and we went to the back to Room 1. I was made to lie down on the examination table. The rest of what happened made ‘Holy Shit, get me out of here!!!’ ring through my head. They wrapped me from the chest down in a thick, wool blanket. Put a timed blood pressure cuff on me. Hooked me up to an IV. Put a white, wrap-around thingy up my nose and I’m proud of my vocabulary there. Put that thingy on my finger that measures how much oxygen is in my blood (again, I’m proud of my vocabulary, so leave me alone).
But…
It honestly wasn’t all that bad because the assistant that had patted my arm was in the room with me. The entire time that she set me up for my surgery, she spoke to me. Heck, we even got on the subject of pedicures and manicures.
And so when the doctor came out, kindly started small talk with me, and injected me with that which would make me go to sleep…I was perfectly alright.
When I next woke up, my mom was either helping me from the car or strapping my seat belt on for me (for the life of me, I honestly can’t remember) and then I was in my bed. I think I woke up around 4:30, which meant that I was pretty much sleeping all day. I was a little sore, I couldn’t talk, and I didn’t eat any solid foods.
And, well…I was perfectly alright again, haha! By the next day, I could slowly eat solids and I honestly didn’t have any pain; just a mild soreness. When I opened my mouth wide in front of a mirror, all I could see was nice, pink, health gum in the back. I didn’t even bleed all that much, and you can imagine how much that was a relief.
So…my wisdom teeth were taken out and I’m still here, alive and kicking!
Has anyone else gotten their wisdom teeth taken out? :D
here from latest things
Date: 2012-05-23 12:51 am (UTC)i have, not long ago.
my experience was quite different. i hadn't gone to a dentist in ages but went because an old baby tooth (it had no adult tooth behind it to push it out) was bothering me. so i went to the dentist my brother went to & they decided to remove the wisdom teeth as well. (the dentist was the same person who removes the teeth) like you i had 3, 2 of which (the lowers) were "erupting" the third they thought would never come out (now it is. but it's not bothering me like the others did)
they couldn't give me the shot to knock me out because i have bad veins. so i just got the gas & two of the "relaxing" pill. it went well, except i threw up part way through. i don't remember much about my dad driving me home, except i threw up again. luckily the dental assistant had given me a small plastic bag to get sick in.
Re: here from latest things
Date: 2012-05-24 01:45 am (UTC)But, oh my goodness...they couldn't even put you to sleep? AND you became sick twice? I tell you, you're a much, much braver person than I am. I couldn't imagine not being a sleep when someone is pulling my teeth out of their gums. *shudders*
I tip my metaphorical hat to you! And I take it you're alright now? :D
Re: here from latest things
Date: 2012-05-24 11:33 pm (UTC)Re: here from latest things
Date: 2012-05-26 11:46 pm (UTC)And again, I'm glad you spoke up! It's always great to see a new face. :D
no subject
Date: 2012-05-23 06:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-24 01:54 am (UTC)Did you...make them...? (If so, I'll automatically assume they tasted like Heaven on a Plate.)
no subject
Date: 2012-05-24 02:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-26 11:45 pm (UTC)Well...if I was there, I would have made you some yummy, homemade soup! ^ ^
no subject
Date: 2012-05-26 11:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-27 01:28 am (UTC)But I'm glad that you recovered, Silver! ^ ^
no subject
Date: 2012-05-23 02:19 pm (UTC)I had all four wisdom teeth pulled several years ago. I remember coming off the anesthesia being not a lot of fun, and trying to stand and having to be caught by a pair of burly nurses when my knees wouldn't actually hold my weight. I remember being in a great deal of pain, and being completely out of it on painkillers for almost a week afterward. (We watched some of season 2 of Sailor Moon. To this day I can't give you a coherent summary of it, and some of the weirder things I remember were really in it, so I'd like to rewatch it some day.)
All in all, pretty average, I think. ^^;
no subject
Date: 2012-05-24 01:53 am (UTC)*cheers for the Sailor Moon fans* On behalf of the Moon, I shall [comfort] you!!! :D :D :D :D :D
*20 year-old that's still a fan girl and not afraid to admit it* :)
no subject
Date: 2012-05-24 01:24 am (UTC)I was given a prescription for pain pills, and a prescription for a "don't care" pill. (I'm sure there were specific drugs attached to those things, but I've no idea what they were.) I took the don't care pill and a pain pill ahead of time, as instructed, and was shot full of Novocain. And, thanks to the don't care pill, I remember none of what followed until I was on the way home.
I had to eat soft foods for a few days and had one of those water syringe thingies you use to squirt out the giant gaping pits where teeth used to be so you don't get dry socket. But I never even needed over the counter pain relief, and was back at work the next day.
(Though, that does involve a bit of a funny story... some time after the extractions, when the giant gaping pits were filling in, but I still needed to squirt them out after meals, I absentmindedly ate some chips. Funny thing, chip fragments won't squirt out. So I'm in the bathroom at work, using the tweezers out of my pocket knife to extract the chip bits, when one of my coworkers wanders in and makes the mistake of asking what I was doing. So I told him. He wandered off again, sorry he'd asked.)
no subject
Date: 2012-05-24 01:50 am (UTC)So I'm pretty upset that they did that to you. And you didn't have a designated driver? Or at least, someone to call in case something went wrong?! D:
And, err...am I supposed to burst out laughing or stare wide-eyed at the screen, in regards to the part in parentheses? Because I can only imagine the AWKWARD for you and that coworker...>.>
no subject
Date: 2012-05-24 02:15 am (UTC)As to the parentheses... both?
no subject
Date: 2012-05-26 11:33 pm (UTC)*hugs tightly*