Rewind: I've been excited all week for my oral surgery. I had 3 wisdom teeth removed during high school, and I had a good experience both times. (2 teeth removed in 2007, 1 in 2008, I think.) I'm not afraid of needles, and I have a high pain tolerance. Lots of people have asked if I was nervous, but I haven't been. I've been excited.
Today: I slept in this morning until 7:45 (WONDERFUL!) and then started to make sure I was ready for the day. I flossed, brushed, swished (mouthwash), flossed, and swished again. I was apparently supposed to do this a lot according to my instructions. My appointment was at 9:20, so I left the apartment around 8:55. Here we go!
The office staff was again wonderful. I was eventually called back to my room where I answered some routine questions. An intern swabbed my mouth with what I think was some numbing stuff (but I'm still not sure?) The doctor then gave me five numbing injections. The worst were definitely those in the roof of my mouth, but they were tolerable. My eyes watered during this part, but it really wasn't that bad. (Unless you hate needles... then it would probably be awful.)
I sat to "marinade" for awhile; my upper mouth got more and more numb. I didn't opt for laughing gas because the first time I had it in high school, I didn't really feel the effects of it, and the second time, I didn't think it made me less nervous or anything.
The doctor and his assistant came in to do the deed after maybe 10 minutes or so. They didn't talk much during the procedure. The first tooth to go was the wisdom tooth. I was surprised at how little I could feel (weird, right? I was numb.), but at the same time, I felt like I was trying to give the doctor leverage to pull that sucker out! It seemed like he was really yanking on it for awhile... which I sort of found humorous but also kept thinking to myself, "How the heck is he getting this thing out?"
I could tell when that tooth came out. The next tooth was the one on the same side as the wisdom tooth. This one was weird because it was so much closer to my face than the wisdom tooth. I was worried I would feel more, but I didn't on this one.
The worst (but still not bad at all) was the last tooth on the other side of my face. I felt a lot of pressure with this one. I felt so much pressure that I was worried I wasn't numbed fully! (But I was.) Again, I felt like he had to pull a lot, and I felt like I kept moving my head back to help him pull it out better. It was a like a wrestling match with the doctor and my mouth. It was so bizarre to be fully conscious of what was going on!
When he finished (after what seemed like less than 10 minutes), they packed my mouth with gauze and let me sit for awhile. He asked me if I wanted to keep my teeth, and I said "YEAH!" I've never gotten to see my adult teeth after removal. I thought they were pretty cool. The roots are HUGE!
After a few minutes, I got my stuff and drove home! Here's my post-surgery selfie:
I'm feeling pretty normal now. I want to go back to school, but bleeding hasn't stopped yet. :( Here's to a weekend of healing!
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