Santa Cruz, California, October 28th, 2014
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Can you die from having a tooth pulled?
Yup.
I am a wimp.
A flaming, 'oh whoa is me' WIMP!!
It is a known fact that red heads have very low pain thresholds.
And I have never been very brave.
I turned into a ninja jacked up on a case of Red Bull if I see a big bug.
Ask my son Christopher.
It happened one summer...
It was like I was auditioning for an idiot's version of Peter Pan.
Why?
He put a MASSIVE icky flying thing on my foot and then all of a sudden..."I can fly!"
My kids still share the sweet joy of that moment with me. Which is a nice way of saying they laugh their guts out at me and weep at the hilarity of it all.
Okay, so. What happened?
I had a root canal done in ...in a previous MILLENIUM...and over the last few years the poor tooth has cracked and chipped off.
My super awesome dentist, let's call him Dr. B, you know, a totally made up name for the interwebs, is not a pasty indoor type of boy who plays chess as a sport. Nor does he look at my teeth and say "Oh, for observational purposes, that'll be $ 923.42. Cash."
We like him, the kids like him. But we're not keeping him as a pet. His supermodel wife *A* gets that job.
So two weeks ago I went in, the tooth had been shifting sideways. He xrays, we chat, I decide to leave it until late June , after my trip to, umm, Europe, and then I get this little nudge inside.
I know 'the nudge'. It's a God thing. I KNOW this.
"Ya know, why not just get it over with, how about before I go away?"
So his lovely brain trust, R, books me in for the the 19th. Hey, it'll be a few days of pain, no biggy.
Well, the next day, the 12th, I start spitting out TEETH!! Okay, A tooth. Huge chunks of tooth. In my food. Yes, I looked really dumb.
I'd be chewing, like, okay, MAYBE a single, small chocolate chip (handful) and it was all "WHAT??"
I mean, what a huge waste of chocolate, I had to spit it all out. And there they were chunks of tooth!!
GAH!!
So, long story short, I had the root canal post itself , sticking up out of my gums.
By Thursday, I was ready.
In goes the needle.
"Oh, pain, owww."
AHAHAHA!!
Dr B reefed on that tooth for a full half an hour. The boy is not feeble, he does not lift a Q-tip and yell "Hey, honey, check this out, I got it off the counter!!"
Late that afternoon, by the time the freezing wore off. I was ready to curl up in a drooly ball and cry.
I had NO CLUE it would hurt this bad.
How bad is it?
John is fussing over me and showing sympathy. He brings dinner home or makes it himself.
In a normal day, John makes Simon Cowell look sympathetic.
Yup, it's bad.
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Owwwww!!! Hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteTrue story: When I was a kid, I was going to have to have one of my teeth pulled before getting braces. I was scared. So I worked on my own tooth every night for the couple months leading up to the dentist appointment...and eventually pulled it out myself. I was so ridiculously proud of myself.
Sadly, this same heroic action did not work when it came time to have my wisdom teeth pulled out. But they put me under for that. Yay for laughing gas.
Dr Tagg, child dentist!! Well done! I didn't want laughing gas, I was afraid I'd say something completely inapropriat...innapropriete...wrong.
DeleteYikes. Wish I could bring you something mushy to eat. I had all four wisdom teeth pulled in my 20s. But seriously, it was EASY. And the laughing gas was waaaay better than I anticipated. Wish I could bring you some of that, too. Hang in there.
ReplyDeleteAw, thanks! I had PASTA yesterday!I know, FOOD!
ReplyDeleteI'll hang in there, I have to, we have a hockey weekend in Maine coming up. :)
AGH! I just can't imagine the pain! And BTW--Melissa Tagg, what on earth! You could've been a doctor or dentist, girl! Ha. Brave chicks, one and all!
ReplyDeleteTake a cast iron frying pan, slam it against your jaw, dig a fork into your teeth and yank on it. There, that's how it feels. Why yes, I am dramatic...aren't I?
DeleteOnly you could share your pain and make me crack up at the same time, Jennifer. I sense that behind the humor is one hurting gal, and I'm sorry. I hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteI have a heart for those experiencing dental trauma after having watched our daughter (whose permanent teeth came in with little to no enamel on them--a condition called enamel hypoplasia) go through an 18-month complete mouth reconstruction involving three gum surgeries, twenty-eight crowns, and countless hours in her prosthodontist's chair. If you think dentists charge a lot, just check out one of these specialists. Our gal has two years of college in her mouth--along with a smile that outshines Reese Witherspoon's. Adri considers her smile worth it, but she isn't fond of the dentist's chair these days.
Your poor daughter!!!!! AHHHH!!!!
ReplyDeleteYay for John! :-) He should fuss over you. The worst I've had was my wisdom teeth pulled, and even then I don't remember much but sleeping. So sorry your still in pain, I'm still praying for you!
ReplyDeleteHey Gwen! Yes, he's gone above and beyond with the fussing this week. I might keep him...
DeleteNot fun. Even though I'm from the "please tie your own tourniquet about your own severed limb, and get on with your work without further unneccessary fuss" school, I can certainly sympathize.
ReplyDeleteHAHAHAHA!! Yes, you are that person. Don't forget "welding through my hand". Thank you for the sympathy.
DeleteWow, brought back memories of having 4 wisdom teeth pulled that had not come in yet. Do we ever underestimate how unpleasant a dentist experience can go with extracting teeth...it's more than "Ouch"!
ReplyDelete4 at once??? AGH!!! ANd hey, thanks for the visit!!!
DeleteIt really depends on the way your dentist pulled it. Me and my invisalign dentist wishes that this doesn't happen to many people. Thanks.
ReplyDelete