It seems like most people have a story about getting their wisdom teeth out, or if not that, most people have some story about going to the dentist. I recently watched Michael McIntyre “Dentist” story and laughed. Today, I will tell you the story of getting my wisdom teeth out.
I was only sixteen when I got them out. My dentist told us that it’s better to do it before they start causing trouble trying to squeeze in where there isn’t enough room. Better to do it before they really take root and that’ll cause even more pain. Better to do it now.
So, my mom and I took the day to drive to the big city. In my town, they didn’t have dentists who would put you under and so, my dentist referred us to a place in the city. Before going in, my mom told me to make up my mind to be happy when I woke up from the anesthetic. Apparently, that would really help.
I was brought into a room and I lied down. The dentist/doctor told me to count down from 10. I might have gotten to 7 before I fell asleep. When I woke up, there was someone beside me calling me by name and telling me where I was. They may have also mentioned that they had cut open my gums and removed four large teeth while I was asleep which was why my mouth was currently filled with large amounts of gauze. Or maybe, they just assumed that since I couldn’t feel my mouth I didn’t realize what was in it.
Before they dismiss anyone, they get everyone to take a pain killer. Of course, since my entire mouth was frozen, this was very difficultly done. I couldn’t feel anything in my face. They hand everyone a mirror so at least you can see that you are putting the pill in your mouth. I was one of the last people to leave as I slowly moved my hand to my mouth to put the pill in my mouth. It’s crazy how having part of your body frozen, inhibits the rest of your body from knowing where that part of the body is. Swallowing was even more of a trial. I had tried to put the pill in good place in my mouth where it would most likely end up being swallowed with water. I finally settled on where to put it and drank water. Swallowing was hard, but alas, I did it. Then, I checked with the mirror to see if the pill was gone- it appeared to be. I went to join my mom.
I had taken the resolution to wake up happy seriously. Happy I was. My mouth and what felt like my entire face was numb, so I can’t be sure of my facial expression, but it was as close to a smile as it could have been, considering the circumstances. My tongue was also numb and although it wasn’t moving properly or allowing me to make proper sounds, I was still determined to tell my mom in great detail all about my experience which had mostly been with me being unconscious. I jabbered on and on for the two and a half hour drive home while my mom laughed. Yes, I had been asleep for one hour and talked about that experience for two and a half hours. The truth is, she was laughing because she couldn’t understand a word I was saying as I babbled on and on.
I never did have pain from this experience, they had given me so many pain killers to take for a week or however long, that I didn’t have time between doses to feel much. I did become an excellent pudding maker in that time as that was the majority of what I ate.
Unfortunately, after my wisdom teeth were gone, the pressure that was pushing my other teeth together was also gone. My teeth decided to move around. At first they all separated a little with the lack of pressure and I had gaps between my teeth. Then, they started moving back together, but unfortunately, not like how they had been in the first place. One of my teeth moved to slightly cover the one beside it. This was a shame, since if it would have pushed at the right place, the gap between my front teeth, which was created by the lack of pressure, would have shrunk down to a normal size. While my teeth were doing this dance, I was becoming increasingly self-conscious and concerned that the gaps between my teeth would stay- particularly the gap between my front teeth which was really quite noticeable. I kept checking in with family members to see what they thought. My mom, told me, “Yup, it’s big enough for a train to go through.”
She was joking of course, probably because she was tired of reassuring me. Perhaps she thought if she told me what I was convincing myself of, I would take exception and start reassuring myself. Eventually, that was what happened. Today, I admit that I do have a gap between my front teeth, but it seems small to me. It’s nothing to write home about, but enough to write a blog post about and most people don’t notice it.
The post Wisdom Teeth appeared first on The Dandelion Perspective.