Post by Max on Oct 31, 2020 14:13:36 GMT
Six weeks ago during a routine check-up my dentist uttered the line “I need to take out on of your wisdom teeth”. She explained food was getting stuck and if it decayed any more I would also lose the next tooth as well. I’m 50, never had a tooth out before and don’t mind admitting that ever since that day I was terrified! Like all of us I had heard a few horror stories over the years of complications, ranging from infections, excessive bleeds, dry socket, nerves and jaw damage, excruciating pain to name but a few. On top of that my mind was making me feel anxious, my stomach churned and heart felt like it was going crazy.
Anyway the fateful day came last week. Odd as it may seem I kept the appointment and voluntarily walked into the dentist despite knowing the horror I was about to experience. I had an x-ray so she could see just how straight or curly the root might be for extraction, then came the injections to numb the area, after waiting around 5 minutes she told me she was about to start. I gripped the chair and took a deep breath waiting for the heart attack to start. She told me to expect a pulling feeling of my head might go back and forth a bit, so I braced myself for the endurance test absolutely terrified of what was to come…..a tug on the head to the right was followed by a crunching sound and less than 30 seconds it was all finished and I was still alive! My dentist was brilliant with me but knew I was in a bit of a state. She told me it was pointless her telling me instructions because I wouldn’t take the information in so she gave me a note all about the ‘do’s & don’t’ for the next week to read once I was home. Ironically I biked home straight after, opened the note straight away to read that point 1 clearly stated “do not cycle”!!
Six days on now and not even needed a single paracetamol, there was no pain, the blood clotted pretty quickly and there have been no dramas at all. Simple way was to not eat for around 12 hours after and then put a teaspoon of salt in a mug of warm water, swill around the mouth and then remember to do that every time you eat. It just prevents anything getting stuck in the hole and becoming infected. Early days don’t cycle or do any excessive exercises, just let the blood clot without giving it extra pressure.
The reason for the blog is simply to reassure you about that particular procedure but more so just to say please don’t worry about it, it was nothing and I wasted a lot of hours ruminating about every ‘worst case scenario’. Things are rarely as bad as you think they will be and happily this has proved it!
Anyway the fateful day came last week. Odd as it may seem I kept the appointment and voluntarily walked into the dentist despite knowing the horror I was about to experience. I had an x-ray so she could see just how straight or curly the root might be for extraction, then came the injections to numb the area, after waiting around 5 minutes she told me she was about to start. I gripped the chair and took a deep breath waiting for the heart attack to start. She told me to expect a pulling feeling of my head might go back and forth a bit, so I braced myself for the endurance test absolutely terrified of what was to come…..a tug on the head to the right was followed by a crunching sound and less than 30 seconds it was all finished and I was still alive! My dentist was brilliant with me but knew I was in a bit of a state. She told me it was pointless her telling me instructions because I wouldn’t take the information in so she gave me a note all about the ‘do’s & don’t’ for the next week to read once I was home. Ironically I biked home straight after, opened the note straight away to read that point 1 clearly stated “do not cycle”!!
Six days on now and not even needed a single paracetamol, there was no pain, the blood clotted pretty quickly and there have been no dramas at all. Simple way was to not eat for around 12 hours after and then put a teaspoon of salt in a mug of warm water, swill around the mouth and then remember to do that every time you eat. It just prevents anything getting stuck in the hole and becoming infected. Early days don’t cycle or do any excessive exercises, just let the blood clot without giving it extra pressure.
The reason for the blog is simply to reassure you about that particular procedure but more so just to say please don’t worry about it, it was nothing and I wasted a lot of hours ruminating about every ‘worst case scenario’. Things are rarely as bad as you think they will be and happily this has proved it!