It's never easy
(Jen and anyone else seriously afraid of the dentist, just stop reading now.)
So, as described below, I went to the dentist hopped up on Valium this morning. I was feeling pretty good and woozy when the doc injected me with novocaine about 12 times before starting the scaling. Unfortunately, in two of the spots I could feel the scaling and it hurt. Doc came back and injected me 3 more times in each of those two spots. Scaling was completed with some pain though it was bearable.
Then they had to do 2 fillings. Doctor injected me a third time on both sides on top, 3 shots each side. He completed drilling on one side, but when he moved to the other I kind of knew it wasn't numb. He tried anyway. And holy crap, when you drill into a tooth that isn't numbed it's like you got a full on electric shock of major voltage--that's how bad it hurt. I jumped, the dentist and hygienist jumped, and then they pumped that side full of novocaine a FOURTH time to get it fully numb before they were able to complete that filling.
So, to recap, I got a total of 12 injections the first time, 6 the second time, 6 the third time, and 3 the fourth time. That's 27 injections--and a total of 9 in the top left side of my mouth alone.
Of course, now I can't talk, can barely swallow, and can't actually even move most of the lower half of my face. It will probably be 3 or more hours before I can eat because of how much novocaine is in me right now. As I was being driven home, the friend who picked me up appeared mighty amused at how slurred my speech was. Or maybe that was because I was still high and therefore sounding loopy. Who knows.
Thankfully, the valium has worn off enough that I think I can drive into work. I won't be able to answer the phone when I get there, though.
(Those of you wondering why I need to take Valium to go to the dentist--THIS is why.)
6 comments:
NEVER. All of my teeth will have to rot out. I will never. ever. EVER.
EVER.
I told you not to read this one!
The sad thing is if one of your teeth goes really bad, it is going to hurt worse than anything they did to me today and you will need either a root canal, which is the mother of all dental pain, or to have the tooth pulled which won't feel real good either.
I've had a root canal... I don't think it's the mother of all dental pain. For me, so far, the mother of all dental pain was the recovery after having my 4 impacted wisdom teeth cut out.
I had 2 impacted wisdom teeth and don't even remember the recovery at all, but then I had them out right after I had my dental implant which was absolutely excruciating. So maybe the wisdom teeth just seemed like a breeze in comparison.
Yeah, probably. And you can sound like a bad-ass by saying it was nothing! So, I guess something good came out of it... pain notwithstanding.
I've had 4 impacted wisdom teeth removed and really probably need some dental work done now...but discomfort at the dentist has now turned to an all consuming phobia.
I just can't bring myself to do it.
Post a Comment