Experiences at the Dentist's Office

I went in to the dentist's today as my tooth was throbbing even worse today. My husband was able to come home on lunch break and watch the kids and thankfully the second office I called said to come in immediately.

I was a little nervous, since I hate having to do anything remotely medical and I don't enjoy pain. Also, the dentist's office was shabby and all of the equipment looked at least 30 years old. A very Wyomingish place where the secretaries lounged around browsing the sale ads and chatting while wearing sweatshirts and jeans.

At least the photos on the wall were interesting and made me feel better. How many people can say that their dentist has climbed the Grand Tetons and mountains in Nepal (including Everest)? This being a new dentist to me, I figured if he was a mountain climber, then he was a man of ambition and must be smart too, right?

Unfortunately, my wisdom tooth was infected and he said, "I bet that is REALLY painful." Uh-huh! Especially since I haven't taken any Ibuprofen today!

The good news about going to a shabbier dentist office is that the cost is affordable. I would rather sit in a 70's dentist chair than go to a ritzy office with everything new and be charged $1,000 for a quick extraction. Thankfully, my two x-rays and extraction only cost a couple of hundred.

Let's just say that when anyone with the title "Dr." says you will feel a "little pressure," it's time to get nervous. I admit I was wishing that King Jo was there to hold my hand! I've heard things like that before.......like when the pregnancy books say crowning is like a "ring of fire." Take it from someone who has had two non-medicated births, "ring of fire" is a VAST understatement for the Blowtorch from Hades.

Even though I was numbed up by Mountain Climber Dentist, I felt like someone who gets the epidural in childbirth and it doesn't work. "Gentle pressure" was akin to someone shattering my jaw with a sledgehammer. I'm glad it only lasted about 30 seconds, just before I was ready to pass out to avoid the pain! I'm glad he was extra careful since he found an infected root which came out with the tooth. He put one stitch in, which I also felt!

Needless to say, my kiddoes can't understand why mommy can't talk right now or why her face resembles that of a Sumo wrestler's. It's been interesting giving orders to my two-year old through grunts and pointing. Amazing how much she understands from my facial expressions telling her to go take a nap NOW!

One other crazy thing is that they tell you to take some prescribed pain pills (which are just starting to kick in....ahhhhh.....bliss.....) but they tell you not to drink or eat anything until the numbness wears off. With a mouth full of gauze I tried to say, "How?" when the dentist told me take a pain pill. You just told me not to eat or drink and to keep this gauze in for awhile! How am I supposed to swallow when I can't feel my tongue? Lucky for him I couldn't talk so he didn't really have to answer the question. I did manage (barely) to swallow the pill on the side that isn't numb!

Take my advice and have your wisdom teeth removed in High School when your parents will pay for it and they can put you completely under! My other 3, non-infected wisdom teeth should probably be removed before they, too, get infected. However, I want to be drugged beyond comprehension if I have that done!