I'm planning on blogging about NYC day 2 soon, but wanted to share with you my tooth story.
So if you read my last post you know that I cracked a molar. Well, I finally got in to see the dentist Tuesday morning at 7:30am. He took a look at it, then grabbed my x-ray, and he said "Man you really did a doozie on that thing!". He also told me that I'd cracked it beyond repair and that I'd have to have it removed.
So Wednesday, New Year's Eve, I arrived at the Oral Surgeon's office at 9am. She had me fill out some paperwork, and then I got a panoramic x-ray - these, just so you know, are way more comfortable and easy to do than those old bite wing x-rays. Easy peesy. Then, I got in with Dr. Monte Masonbrink (what a name - I always get the goofy ones when something serious happens; a Dr. Hinkle took out my wisdom teeth) and he talked me through the procedure, what he thinks happened in this case, and what my post-operation options would be.
After our chat, I was taken to a tiny office with a phone, two chairs, and a small table. Here, the office assistant brought me my paperwork and the bill. The total due was only around $80. Supposedly my insurance will cover the rest, but we'll see.
Then, the hygenist came to get me and I put my coat and bag on a hook in the office while they prepped me. I had to swish with a slight numbing mouthwash, and then they put my bib on. I started getting really hot and a little shaky - I knew what was coming next. While novocaine has benefits that outweigh it's detriments, this is the second to worst part of my whole experience - those shots. Now, I generally don't have a problem with needles. I have two tattoos, several ear piercings, and I went through years and years of allergy shots. But these shots are EVIL. And they always tell you in that soft, gentle voice, "Just a little pinch here..." And the minute that first poke hits I tense up EVERYWHERE, grab the arms of my chair and moan in a slight bit of agony. If this agony were on a scale of 1 to 10, it would probably be around a 7.5. Just a little pinch - my ass! He did this not once, not twice, but 3 times. Next, they waited for the numbing to kick in, and once I couldn't feel my face he grabbed this terra cotta colored rubber bite widener and stuffed it as far back between my left teeth as he could. This caused an immediate gag reaction in my and the bite widener shot forward in my mouth so I almost lost it. He tried to stuff it back in there, but it just wasn't happening. I was NOT going to puke everywhere, so we settled on it being near the middle section where it wasn't exactly comfortable, but wasn't going to choke me either.
Ok, ready to begin. He poked around a few times on either side of my teeth, to make two incisions. Since this is a 6 year molar - the roots of the tooth are pretty far down and are hard to just pull out. I found this out the hard way about 15 minutes after he made the incisions. The loose half came out just fine. I barely felt any movement. The other half... well, let's just say that this guy put everything he had into working that thing out of my jaw. He and the hygenist were pulling both ways so my head was being forced right and left. When he finally got the tooth out of there, it actually didn't come all the way out. The force of him pulling caused it to break at the gum line and he hit me in the top row of teeth with it. I shouted when my head hit the back of the chair, but then they started drilling. Since the rest of the tooth broke, he had to dig out the rest of it - gross...
It was all over not long after that, and the hygeniest changed the gauze in my mouth twice. She showed me how to fold up gauze and bite down so that the pressure would help stop the bleeding. She also sent me home with a bottle of darvocet and instructions for post-op care.
After leaving the office, my mother called... I sounded great. "Hi. I'm ogay, I fink." I drove home, changed clothes, and left for work. I had signed up to work the event that night, and of course my boss had gotten ill over the holidays, so he left almost as soon as I got there. I managed to get some oatmeal in me, since I knew that I had better take that pain medication before the novocaine wore off or I was going to be in trouble. Around 4:30, when the feeling began to come back, the pain was pretty intense, but I made it through. I did have to sit in the office for a few minutes just to put my head down and power through it. My regular doctor told me that it would be ok to take a couple ibuprofen in between doses if the darvocet didn't work well, so I did that. I made it through the night, and when I got home I got into comfy clothes, put a blanket on over me, and snuggled on the couch with Jonathan. I sort of sucked on some pizzelle cookies (like little waffle cones but flat) and drank some champagne (woohoo!) while we watched Elf on TV. I got nice and woozy. At 11:59pm, we changed the channel to NBC, watched the ball drop, and had a New Year's kiss. About 5 minutes later, we both went to bed.
Wow are we exciting. ;)
Anyway, Happy New Year everyone! I look forward to a healthier, happier 2009 to share with all of my friends and family. I love you all.
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