"There's Something Missing"

I may have mentioned before that I have the worst teeth in the world. Well, maybe not the worst, but they're probably in the top 100!  (Or should I say the bottom 100??) Well, at least I used to. But today "There's Something Missing!"   They're not so bad today because yesterday, the worst of then were unceremoniously removed from my mouth!  I am embarrassed to report that the oral surgeon removed....(gulp)....FOUR (!!) of them yesterday.  Yes, four....sigh.  One wisdom tooth and three molars.  I have only one molar left and it is an upper molar, not much good for chewing!  All the other molars and wisdom teeth are gone.

Now some will be replaced with a partial, but until that happens there is nothing left to chew with!  Goodbye steak and other meats!.  So long crunchy things!  Only soft, mushy, and liquids will be allowed.  I think I will be hungry!

It's all because I have very soft teeth.  It doesn't  take much for another cavity to appear.  And as some of the fillings have been around for a long time, they are vulnerable as well and most have been replaced until there is more filling than tooth.  Let me tell you it sucks swamp water!

Just so you know, I have been fairly diligent about taking care of my teeth. Really!  Nevertheless, I haven't always been consistently diligent.  So there are times when I get really tired of flossing and brushing and rinsing and cleanings and fillings and crowns and all the rest.  After more than 60 years of on-going concerns,  now I pay the price! As I just got them out yesterday, I am still suffering the effects of the anesthesia and the painkillers, so yesterday I was really groggy and sleepy and although I wasn't in agony, I did have significant discomfort.  So I spent most of the day and night sleeping!

Today I'm still kind of bleary-eyed and it hurts and I'm hungry so I get to have some more ramen noodles which seem to go down easily without much chewing.  And still no driving because I'm so groggy.  A second day wasted.  Great.....right!?

Coincidentally, my niece is just about to graduate from dental school, so we'll have our very own dentist in the family!  We're very proud of her, but  uhhhh....shhhh!  Don't anybody tell her that her aunt has the worst teeth in the world, OK???  It's embarrassing!

"Fixing a Hole"

I hate my teeth.  I have always hated my teeth.  Always! 

I don't spend my life brushing, flossing, polishing, cleaning, etc., but I do brush a couple of times a day and floss fairly frequently.  I even sometimes use a flouride rinse.  And I get cleanings twice a year!  Despite my care,  they aren't a pretty sparkling white.  They are small.  My mouth is small and there's no room to manuever.  (Pediatric instruments have to be used!)  They are a little crooked.  They are sensitive to cold.   They have spaces where they shouldn't have spaces.  They aren't particularly strong or healthy.  They aren't even.  They collect tartar and plaque like some people collect recipes!  More often than not, there seems to be a need for "fixing a hole!"    And so they need constant attention it seems.  And the worst part of it, is that its not just my attention they need.  Oh no!  They require a....dunh, dunh, dunh....Dentist!

May I just say, it case you haven't figured  it out, that for me going to the dentist ranks right at the bottom of my "things I don't want to do" list, along with having a baby and jumping out of an airplane!    I work myself into a tizzy over having to go to the dentist.   By the time of the appointment, I am a wreck from the anticipation of whatever torture the dentist will inflict upon me this time!

Of course, my head keeps trying to remember that I have survived before.  Doesn't help too much.  My gut knows!!  There's a long, long way between survival and no pain!

Unfortunately, I am of the age that had dental experiences before the development of high speed drills, or lidocaine prior to  injections.  Headphones, TV, movies, music, etc. weren't even on the horizon.  That's right, back in the dark ages of dentistry, when the height of technology was "rinse and spit"!!

I have tried hard over the years to act like a grown up, but unfortunately that's really hard for me.  You see, for me dental pain (especially hitting a nerve), is the absolute worst pain I have ever felt!  Bar none!  I'm a wuss with a very low pain threshhold.  I quiver, I cry, I tense up, I cry some more, and I want to run out of there at the speed of light.  I hate it. 

Of course, to be fair, Its gotten better.  I finally found a dentist (a FEMALE dentist, I might add) that understands about pain and is all in favor of using sufficient Nitrous Oxide to keep me in the chair long enough to complete what needs doing!  That helps a LOT.  I don't go to sleep of course, but I do get pretty relaxed, so for the most part I tolerate the work fairly well....for a wuss.

I went to the dentist yesterday.  I was there from 1:15 to about 2:30 p.m.  Obviously I survived.  (My dentist truly is a  gem!)  Unfortunately the injection of Novocaine didn't numb my jaw enough.  So I had to have another!  That was not fair!!  I've never needed two before!   Once the second shot kicked in I couldn't feel a thing....nothing at all.  So between the numbing and the Nitrous, she was able to finish up fairly quickly.  Once the Nitrous was gone from my system, I felt an enormous sense of relief.  The hole was fixed!! Yay!  It was over.  I could leave.  My stomach didn't hurt anymore.  I didn't feel nervous anymore. I was free! 

After a couple of hours  I realized I was hungry and I went to have something to eat.    BIG MISTAKE!  I realized that even after 2 1/2 hours my cheek, my lips (top and bottom) and my whole lower jaw was dead!  Not just mostly dead, but compeletely and totally dead as a doornail dead!  My speech was distorted.  My smile was crooked.  (I looked like I'd had a stroke!) I couldn't open my mouth all the way.  I couldn't feel temperatures.  I dribbled while trying to drink from a straw!   And I couldn't feel the difference between the food  and my cheek when chewing!!  Those 2 shots of Novocaine did me in and did not completely wear off until almost 7:30 p.m.!!! 

So yeah, I hate my teeth.  I have always hated my teeth.  Really!