My Story
"Open your mouth a little wider," my dentist pleaded, let me get this swath on that tooth." And with that he put this very cold (steam was coming from it) Q-tip on my tooth. He wanted to find the tooth that was causing me pain. I felt sorry for this man, he was trying so hard to eliminate my pain. As much as I wanted to bounce rigidly up in my chair, as much as I wanted to say "Wow Doc, you really got me with that one." There was nothing. I felt no pain. "I can't figure this out, I am confused," he said. It seemed pretty obvious to me, I had a toothache. Find the bad tooth and yank it. After many more failed attempts my dentist finally located the tooth. He said it was cracked and that is why he had received such 'fuzzy' results back on his temperature sensitivity tests. He scheduled me to see an Orthodontist for a tooth extraction the next day.
Teeth were no match for my Orthodontist. Although he could not walk real well (his ankles were swollen from being on his feet all day), he had pulled lots of teeth. He had huge wrists and forearms. He dinged my teeth with some metal object and found the troublesome tooth. "That's the one", he said. A bing and a bang and suddenly my tongue was exploring a hole where my tooth used to be.
Popeye then gave me a medical pamphlet, some Percoset and sent me home to nurse my wounds. Of course I made a beeline for the bathroom to check out his handiwork in the mirror. I observed this bloody and molar sized hole in my mouth. I also noticed what appeared to be a clot forming.
Now of course I did not read my little pamphlet. If I had, I would have realized that blood clots are normal. Blood clots are healthy. In fact blood clots heal over the nerves to prevent a dry socket effect. For those of you who do not know, a dry socket is exposed, raw nerves. This is a very painful affliction that can strike those with no clots to protect them. "Boy is that ugly," I said to myself as I peered in the mirror. "A little gargling, is in order," I thought to myself and with that, I swished my newly forming clot right down the drain. I soon discovered that as awful looking as that clot was - it was nothing compared to the pain of a dry socket which barked at me with every breath.
The next day I was back a Popeye's office. He inserted some treated packing material into the hole. It would prevent the air from striking my nerves and also help a new clot to form. With a clean mouth and fresh packing in place I was a new man, the clouds had started to part. The pain I currently felt related to my dry socket and it would soon disappear.
But, it did not. So I found myself back at Popeye's office again seeking pain relief. I was made to stand about two inches from the wall. I rested my chin on some cold, circular, metal object. I then heard, "please stand perfectly still, sir." And with that a full set of x-rays had been taken of my mouth. After a careful review of these x-rays Popeye could find nothing. "I think you should see another oral surgeon and get an additional opinion," he said. "No shit," I said to myself while Popeye made the appointment.
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It's In Your Mouth
My Story
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