I had my tooth pulled out this month! Wow, what an experience; I definitely do not recommend it! I'd had a root canal done five years ago and had a crown fitted on what remained of the tooth. Unfortunately the crown wasn't fitted well so the germs caused my tooth to decay all the way to the root. My cheek was so swollen. Once I can figure out how to download the picture from my phone I will show it to you; I looked like a bull frog!! Once the swelling had gone down sufficiently after taking copious amounts of antibiotics, I was scheduled to have the tooth pulled at a teaching hospital. I felt a bit sad because the tooth had been a part of me for so many years. I don't know if I've always had it, or whether it appeared after my milk teeth had fallen out. I don't know if it was my wisdom tooth or my molar, but it was second from the back on the bottom left hand side!
I was a bit apprehensive at first when I went to the hospital. Ordinarily I would never let a trainee touch me at all, but I reasoned that as the person I would be seeing would still be in training and be supervised, they would be a lot more careful and thorough than regular dentists. I was right. I had a lovely Zimbabwean chap attend to me. He was very thorough and explained everything very clearly. Then after checking with his supervisor that everything was ok, we proceeded. First the dreaded injections. iii-yiii-yiiii! What a barbaric procedure! I had opted to just have the area where the tooth needed to be pulled numbed rather than having a local anaesthetic. The pessimist in me says that if I get put to sleep by injection I may not wake up again!! Don't worry, I'm working on it!!
When the area was finally numbed, which took at least four injections, he proceeded to remove the offending tooth. He had in his hand what looked like a screwdriver-like tool. I gasped and closed my eyes. The pressure on my mouth was tremendous. He was really digging away at something. I realised I was holding my breath and started to breathe again. As I did so I opened my eyes only to see him pick up what looked like a pair of pliers! My eyes widened in horror; was this guy for real???!!! He tried to latch onto my tooth and pull. This went on for what seemed like a long while. He tried to pull again and I made a strangulated sound and he stopped. I asked if it wouldn't be better, as per his previous suggestion, to cut my gum and remove the tooth as he seemed unable to pull it out. He said it would be better to do it the way he was attempting now, as the post operative stress of cutting the gum was quite severe. I said ok, but I didn't believe him. I could see that his male ego wouldn't allow him to take any other course of action. I imagined him saying something to himself like: "this piddly little tooth won't defeat me; I train at the gym three times a week for goodness sake!"
After a few more moments wrestling in vain with my tooth, he called over the senior dentist. They discussed what the problem was in dental slang, and then the senior dentist picked up the screw driver again. I was soon sorry that the trainee wasn't able to remove my tooth, for the senior dentist, with no regard for my comfort or squeamishness, commanded me to open my mouth wide, and proceeded to dig away with tremendous force with the screw driver, then when that mind blowing experience was over, he latched onto my tooth with the pliers and pulled it with all of his might. Have you ever watched weight lifting competitions? You see how every muscle in their body trembles when they are trying to pick up those seriously heavy weights? Well that is what was happening to the dentist! His arm was trembling like mad. I was making increasing louder strangulated protestations, when there was what sounded like a soft crunch, and then the tooth came away. I remember thinking, if having a tooth pulled is this traumatic, there is no way I'm having a baby!!
I was a bit apprehensive at first when I went to the hospital. Ordinarily I would never let a trainee touch me at all, but I reasoned that as the person I would be seeing would still be in training and be supervised, they would be a lot more careful and thorough than regular dentists. I was right. I had a lovely Zimbabwean chap attend to me. He was very thorough and explained everything very clearly. Then after checking with his supervisor that everything was ok, we proceeded. First the dreaded injections. iii-yiii-yiiii! What a barbaric procedure! I had opted to just have the area where the tooth needed to be pulled numbed rather than having a local anaesthetic. The pessimist in me says that if I get put to sleep by injection I may not wake up again!! Don't worry, I'm working on it!!
When the area was finally numbed, which took at least four injections, he proceeded to remove the offending tooth. He had in his hand what looked like a screwdriver-like tool. I gasped and closed my eyes. The pressure on my mouth was tremendous. He was really digging away at something. I realised I was holding my breath and started to breathe again. As I did so I opened my eyes only to see him pick up what looked like a pair of pliers! My eyes widened in horror; was this guy for real???!!! He tried to latch onto my tooth and pull. This went on for what seemed like a long while. He tried to pull again and I made a strangulated sound and he stopped. I asked if it wouldn't be better, as per his previous suggestion, to cut my gum and remove the tooth as he seemed unable to pull it out. He said it would be better to do it the way he was attempting now, as the post operative stress of cutting the gum was quite severe. I said ok, but I didn't believe him. I could see that his male ego wouldn't allow him to take any other course of action. I imagined him saying something to himself like: "this piddly little tooth won't defeat me; I train at the gym three times a week for goodness sake!"
After a few more moments wrestling in vain with my tooth, he called over the senior dentist. They discussed what the problem was in dental slang, and then the senior dentist picked up the screw driver again. I was soon sorry that the trainee wasn't able to remove my tooth, for the senior dentist, with no regard for my comfort or squeamishness, commanded me to open my mouth wide, and proceeded to dig away with tremendous force with the screw driver, then when that mind blowing experience was over, he latched onto my tooth with the pliers and pulled it with all of his might. Have you ever watched weight lifting competitions? You see how every muscle in their body trembles when they are trying to pick up those seriously heavy weights? Well that is what was happening to the dentist! His arm was trembling like mad. I was making increasing louder strangulated protestations, when there was what sounded like a soft crunch, and then the tooth came away. I remember thinking, if having a tooth pulled is this traumatic, there is no way I'm having a baby!!
2 comments:
wow - painful!
Hopefully your mouth and face are back to normal by now.
It reminded me that I haven't seen a dentist in nearly a year. My old dentist retired in the Fall and I need to find a new one. So thanks for the reminder:-)
No, no, no, no....getting a tooth pulled should be far, far, far from that experience you were subjected to. What a nightmare...I would be afraid to ever see a dentist again if I went through that.
They should have stopped and explained the need to deaden the rest of your jaw. I don't know what else they should have done, but that just doesn't sound right!
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