a bit hasty, so forgive the assumptions
Ok. So I had presumed something catastrophic was happening inside this jaw/mouth of mine - a filling going hay-wire and releasing itself from the bonds of super-strong adhesive that once restrained it to my back molar.
Note: I have more than one back molar.
However, my assumptions were… abrupt. Perhaps.
Note: whatever follows shows no stupidity on my part, but rather an… incomplete… knowledge of the dental field.
I had my appointment at the dentist’s office this afternoon. I was expecting a multi-hour long session that would involve anesthesiologists galore, probably some grinding of bone and tooth, and blood spattered about on the duck-hunting-themed walls. This was not to follow.
After an explanation of my pains, an X-ray was taken. Just one X-ray, not enough gamma to spice up my afternoon with diluded visions of talking Japanese dragons; but I suppose one X-ray is better than no X-ray. Then the wait followed; in the meantime, I closed my eyes and attempted an afternoon nap amongst the dental offices ambience. The nap was in vain.
The dentist returned with news. There’s nothing wrong with your tooth, no filling lost - although you’ll have to suffer the absence of those brain cells thanks to the gamma. Hmm, I thought. But she wasn’t done explaining - all of this pain that is occurring is due to two, separate events. One: I have a horrible sinus infection that is compressing the root of that molar. Two: my wisdom teeth must have taken an equally evasive maneuver and begun an inevitable journey into the reaches of my mouth that I’d rather they not attend.
So, there’s a sinus balloon in my head waiting to explode and my wisdom teeth have decided to uproot their tectonic plates in hopes of a better future near the front of my mouth. Exciting.
Thus, I was given a prescription for some anti-sinus infection drugs and told to keep it up with decongestants and ibuprofin. In summary - here, have some drugs, you’ll feel better when you’re a bit high. And they don’t allow marijuana on the free medicinal market in America - Hut!
But wait? What about that black hole on the molar that is hurting? That still doesn’t explain the abyss present on the tooth? The answer - it’s not a hole, it’s a filling. A silver filling. I had NO IDEA I had a silver filling. And apparently, I don’t have just one.. but two! of these things. Maybe I don’t remember, chose to forget, or was very much reeling on the drugs they used to put me down during the operation, but I have no recollection of ever getting two fillings (at separate times, mind you; I do remember the first, but I thought it was an ivory-colored filling).
I left the dentist’s office feeling stupid. Stupid like I just spent a half-hour being told that I’m not going to die and my tooth was not committing mutiny on my mouth. But, I had a prescription for some pleasant drugs to gradually relieve me of sinus pressure that I would not have been aware of were it not for the dentist’s proposal.
March 15th, 2005 at 11:35 pm
wisdom teeth = sucktastic.
have fun with them.
i wish you much luck
and lots of narcotics when removal time comes around.
March 16th, 2005 at 10:15 pm
Well, hopefully they will enter the stage of mouth without too much pomp. Whatever happened this weekend with them was just a big break from their previous home in my gums; the dentist told me that particular one, putting pressure on my other molar, was “half way” from emerging. I don’t even remember the initial break through the gum, or a quarter way mark; so this is confusing, and melodramatic at the same time. Ugh.
And thank you, I am looking forward to those narcotics should they come my way.
March 16th, 2005 at 11:33 pm
Hi Ryan,
When the time comes, don’t let your dentist palm off Vicodin (or any of its brethren) on you, Insist upon Percocet. It’s the real deal. You’ll be glad you did. Good Luck!
March 17th, 2005 at 1:09 am
BAAAAAAAAAALHALAHLAHLHALHAAHAHAHAAA.
I can’t believe you had absolutely no idea about your 2 silver fillings. Delectable . . . .
Here’s hoping your eventual wisdom-teeth-removal goes a lot smoother than mine. Sometimes they have to shatter your teeth before removing them (if you’ve an impacted molar, say); word to the wise: make sure they get all of the little sharp, jagged bone shards out. ALL OF THEM. (How you will do this while under, I know not.)
I failed at this task, and was well rewarded for it: for 2-3 weeks after the surgery, a little piece of bone was cutting through my attempting-to-heal gums. Needless to say, this was almost but not entirely the opposite of fun.
Meh. I made the doc extend my prescription of painkillers. And besides, could have been worse: I could have ended up with a dry socket. Eeeh!
March 17th, 2005 at 7:19 am
Ok, so I need to demand the good drugs and must take special care to have them remove shattered bone. Gotcha.
March 18th, 2005 at 12:00 pm
First of all, I’m amused/amazed that a dentist prescribed an anti-sinus infection drug. Sure, he’s an actual doctor and has the power to do that, but I’ve never heard of a cross-disciplinary prescription before. Weird…
And when the time comes for your wisdom teeth to go, I hope that your procedure goes as smoothly as mine did. They were abscessed, not impacted, so there was no nasty shattering involved. My mom gave me Valium before I went in, and the dentist topped it off with Tylenol 3 (which is pretty much straight codeine, and thus is one of the good drugs mentioned by others). I went home, had weird, swirling dreams for the next seven or eight hours, and actually felt good enough to play my saxophone that evening.