For a few years now, I've been avoiding my impending surgery. See, everyone wants to take out all four of my wisdom teeth along with a broken tooth I have (from a root canal that needed an $800 crown that I never got and thus, broke). Last year, the dentist wouldn't even fill my cavities until I got my teeth pulled. The estimate to get said teeth pulled was about $1300, which is part of the reason I've been putting it off, which meant no pulled teeth and no cavities. Fast forward to 2011 and a new dentist. New dentist tells me I have ZERO cavities and that while he recommends I get my teeth pulled (mostly the one that bothers me and my broken one) it's up to me what gets pulled and what stays. LOVE my new dentist. He referred me to an oral surgeon in town but I found out they weren't a provider for my dental insurance and neither is anyone in Culpeper. Not wanting to pay more than the discounted insurance price I found a dentist (what I thought was an oral surgeon) in Gainesville - only about 35 miles from my house.
My lower left wisdom tooth has been trying to break in for years. It usually doesn't hurt - only when I have a cold or am congested; but lately it started trying to come in again and I was in a lot of pain. I couldn't close my jaw without biting the gum and more than once I bit the broken gum area HARD while eating something. I knew it had to come out soon! So I called to make a consultation about getting my teeth pulled. My mom already agreed to watch the girls for me while I was recovering and we figured out a way to pay for it (PTL!!).
I called and the dentist agreed to see me same day. I came in and the dentist looked at my panorex x-ray I brought with me. He was concerned about the problem tooth being so close to my nerve (which if aggravated with during the extraction could lead to permanent numbness in that side of my mouth and lip). He took another x-ray, more close up of the tooth and nerve and decided it was far enough away and told me he could take out the tooth now. I was kind of speechless. I mean, I was there to make an appointment for several weeks from now to get all 5 teeth removed and he's ready to take it out now! I asked about the others and he said that since I'm getting close to the 30-year mark (thanks for pointing that out, btw), and the teeth aren't bothering me, I could wait and see if they ever cause problems and deal with them then. I was ok with this since I didn't even feel them grow in and I'm scared to death of having them pulled. He didn't say much about the broken tooth - I'm actually not sure what's gonna happen with that. I guess the shock of hearing that my wisdom tooth was coming out took over the need to inquire about that one.
So the nerves start and my texts to my sister about healthy eating tips and joining the gym turned into "OMG, he's taking my tooth out today!" I even sent a "help me" email to my BFF.
And by the way - Hannah is the best almost 4-year old I know. Besides a few tantrums, she is sooo good. She sat next to me and played with her Barbies most of the time, climbed on my lap once to watch the Planet Earth video that was playing (which was showing animals hunting and eating their prey - not very kid friendly especially when they showed penguins being attacked by seals, but she was into it). She doesn't run around and get into things or make lots of noise. She stays right with me and (usually) obeys.
So, the dentist numbed my tissue with a topical gel and once that was good and numb on top, he used the needle and numbed me up that way. It didn't hurt too much, only once it got deep into my gum. Oh, and when Hannah decided to hop off my lap and it made the needle jump a little (OUCH!). He gave me a second dose and all of a sudden I didn't feel well. I felt extremely shaky. When he lifted me up, he asked how I was doing and I couldn't even get my head up off the back without feeling like I was going to pass out. I started to tear up a bit and told him I was really shaky! I held my hands up and they wouldn't stop shaking. He asked if I had had the numbing thing before (sorry, can't remember the name) and I said yes, I've had fillings and root canals before. He thought it might have been my nerves, but I don't think that is what it was - it was a different type of shaking, uncontrollable and I thought I was going to pass out. He noticed on my chart that I am hypoglycemic but I told him I ate on the way here, so I knew my blood sugar was ok. Both times I had my epidurals for delivery, I shook uncontrollable - not sure if that is related. Shaking from an epidural is a pretty common side effect (along with the unbearable itching I had), but not with the "numbing thing", so I'm not sure what went down! We waited it out a little bit, and while I was still shaky, it seemed to be getting subsiding slightly.
He laid me back and I decided I'd rather give birth than go through with this, but he began cutting. Then he used something to attempt to move it back and forth and then used the biggest pair of pliers ever to pull it out. It took about 10-15 minutes and then he stitched me up. Hannah laid on her belly on top of mine and watched the entire stitching process! I left there and as much as I wanted to go home and rest, I needed to find a party store to find cupcake toppers for Hannah's birthday (an unsuccessful search, btw) and meet Matt at his doctors appointment to try to get back on physical therapy for her foot. He promised it would only be a few minutes - but we were there for 2 hours and my gum was still bleeding. It went from being OK to full on pain about 45 minutes after I left the dentist. Motrin helped with the pain, but it wouldn't stop bleeding. We went to a taco place (not good) and I ate a burrito since I couldn't really do crunchy tacos! My drink seemed to help with the bleeding. We tried to get ice cream at the most awesome place ever in Warrenton, but they only take cash and we don't really understand that word. We headed home, toured a gym, signed up (only $50/month for the whole fam!!) and I went home to bed. My tooth (well lack of tooth) itself was fine but my jaw was starting to hurt. I took a few more motrin and fell asleep. Towards the early morning, I could feel it starting to hurt, but it was mostly the stiff jaw that hurt. I still can't open my mouth all the way and it reminds me of before I had my TMJ surgery when my jaw would lock! I have to squish all my food down to eat and am still avoiding anything crunchy or too hard! I think I'll give my jaw through the weekend and see how it is on Monday. I'd hate to have TMJ problems again!
But that's it! My tooth being pulled unexpectedly wasn't too too bad. I wish I could have come home and just relaxed, but as a Mom, ehh, there's just too much to do! I'm super glad I don't have to worry about getting my the others pulled and may just have the broken tooth pulled and get an implant but I'll worry about that at my next cleaning!
Have you ever had a tooth pulled? Are you afraid of the dentist? Share!
