Bye-Bye Tooth

Today I went in to the dentist to have my tooth extracted. Yesterday I had an x-ray done and we found out that the tooth was very badly decayed and pressing on the nerve. I was pretty sure that was the problem, having had a number of sleepless nights due to the pain over the past few months. It has been getting progressively worse, so it was time to get it taken care of.

I do love the dental office that was recommended to us by a friend. I guess there is one in town that most of our church members like, but my friend said he tends to "find" lots of problems and this other dentist was better. The tip was a good one. I really liked that they didn't make my decisions for me and just gave me all of the options. They were leaning toward root canal, but didn't make me feel bad for picking extraction. I told one of the receptionists that I'm mad at the tooth anyway, so it could go!

Rob dropped me off for my appointment (I was on an asap list and got in today, Praise the Lord!) and he took the kids to the store to stock up on soft things for me to eat, like rice pudding and Ben and Jerry's. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the dentist has massage chairs, so I had a light massage during the whole ordeal. I was repeatedly numbed (but not quite enough b/c they had to give me more...red heads usually need more pain meds than most other patients.) Then the dentist and his assistant came in. I felt like I was part of a comedy routine at times b/c the dentist noticed a funny commercial on the tv and kept talking about people doing self-dentistry and describing it in detail. He and his assistant had a merry time talking about it while he loosened up my tooth. None of it was too pleasant, but the actual pulling was the worst. I was gripping the arm rails and digging my heels into the chair trying to keep myself from running out of the room. The top half of the tooth popped off and hit my in the shoulder. THEN he had to get the root out! He found it funny that the tooth "ran away" and said it was better off on the floor than in my mouth :) He also said that proves how decayed it was.

When he finally finished, he informed me I had to come back to have the sutures removed. I was wishing for dissolvable stitches, but no such luck. I'll go back next week and I'll also have an x-ray done for the other side. I have a tooth that needs filling, but he wants to be sure that's all it needs.

Overall, I haven't felt too bad today. He had given me a prescription for pain killers yesterday to help me out until I had the tooth removed, so I still have them and have faithfully taken them today. The bleeding is almost done and I've had a "yummy" diet of mashed potatoes and various puddings. Rob had a cheeseburger for lunch and I almost had to leave the room...it smelled so good! He said he'll treat me to one after I heal up. I remember eating a bagel sandwich in front of him after he had his wisdom teeth removed, so I guess turn about is fair play. I should be okay in a couple of days, but I have to wait two weeks before playing any wind instruments, according to the info I got. Guess I'll have to wait to take up the clarniet....

All in all, not too bad, but I have learned my lesson. I will faithfully go to the dentist from here on out. Matthew and I even had a talk about how I might have avoided this if I'd gone to the dentist. He'll make his first trip soon and I want it to be pleasant for him.