Thursday, August 28, 2008

Why do we even have wisdom teeth?

I'm trying to figure out why we have wisdom teeth in the first place. Pretty much EVERYBODY I've talked to has either had them removed or will have them removed in the near to distant future. I have been told for the past 10-15 years that I needed to have mine out. Well, as you all know, I'm a pretty big procrastinator. So, I just had them removed yesterday. Just 2 months before my 31st birthday. Yes, most people had them out in high school or college, so I'm just a little late. But, it's done. I no longer have any wisdom teeth. About 8 years ago, I had one removed in the dentist office. It was a no brainer because it had already grown all the way in. So, they just had to numb my mouth and yank it. Yesterday, I went to an oral surgeon to have the other 3 removed. As most of you know, I am a HUGE needlephobe (new word). I told the surgeon this as he was tying the stupid rubber band thing around my arm to find a nice big vein to stick the needle in. Just so you know, I am cringing just typing about it. Anyway, he told me I was a little white around the gills and leaned my chair back to get the blood flowing AND the laughing gas flowing. Wow, that's some good stuff! He told me to let him know when I started to feel like I had downed a few glasses of wine, but by the time I felt that way, I could barely speak! I think he knew it was time to put the iv in just by looking at my eyes that were probably rolling back into my head. That's all I remember!! So, when I woke up, I was shocked to hear that everything was done. I didn't see, hear, feel anything. Just the way it should've been! So, the nurse walked me down the hall where I laid down with a blanket (finally, it was FREEZING in there). Lee and Andrew came back so the nurse could explain to them how to take care of me for the next few days. I got a nice ride in a wheelchair down to the car. That was great! We left there and headed straight for the pharmacy. It was here Lee got all 4 of my prescriptions and some gatorade. I had to take my 600mg of Motrin and some antibiotics as soon as I got home. This was a HUGE challenge since I couldn't feel my face....my entire face was numb. This was probably pretty humorous to Lee and Andrew as I had to pull my bottom lip up around my cup so I could drink to take my medicine. The tough part was keeping nasty gauze in my mouth to stop the bleeding. Pretty gross actually. I pretty much slept all day yesterday and I slept pretty well last night as well. Today, I woke up pretty late and was able to come downstairs and spend the day on the couch. I just feel like somebody drop kicked me in the jaw. Definitely uncomfortable and I'm really just done with liquid and soft foods. My cheeks are puffy and hurt to just barely touch them. Sucks! Anyway, I suppose it could've been much worse, so I'm very lucky! Anyway, there's my story!

2 comments:

LeahBear said...

I have all my wisdom teeth (except for the one that just never materialized) and my glorious, wonderful heroine of a dentist says that if I can reach them with my toothbrush, I can keep them.

Which is important to me since I, too, have been to an oral surgeon and the experience was approximately a BILLION times worse than yours. Apparently I'm immune to laughing gas?? It made me cry and freak out and I was awake for the entire impacted-tooth-removal process. *shudder*

I hope you feel better soooooon!!!!

Maureen Gribble said...

Good update! Glad you survived, I'm sure that laughing gas was exactly what you needed to get through the needle part.