Adebelle

My jaws are still feeling numb-ish… it’s the aftermath of having anesthesia during the dental surgery (I had a bloody surgery!!!) this afternoon. It’s hard to believe I didn’t freak out and run amok when I was laid down on that surgical chair and having my jaws torn open! It’s a personal achievement, I tell you! It really is!

I know I’ve been talking about wanting to wear braces for weeks. Beats me, I really still haven’t got a clue why braces, why now or where I finally found the courage considering the fact that I am absolutely terrified of dentist, needles and the mind boogling drilling sound!! I knew I would absolutely chicken out if I didn’t schedule an appointment with the orthodontist before my temporary courage faded away.

First appointment with the orthodontist went really well. No needle, no tooth pulling, no drilling, na-da. Ha, it’s more like a stroll in the park! Dr. J checked my teeth and did a teeth impression (mould) before sending me to do a quick scan on my teeth. I asked him if there was a need to extract any tooth at all. He told me he would need to wait for the result of the x-ray to be able to tell me. Hmmm, it’s really not that scary after all. All I needed to do was to go back the next day and voila, I’d be putting on braces in no time and great smile was already waiting for me at the door steps. No sweat!

Monday evening after work, I went back to the clinic for the x-ray results. I was sure enough nothing could be wrong. I was right, Dr. J told me my teeth weren’t too bad at all. In fact, I only have 2 teeth grown slighty out of alignment and some minor ones here and there. Great news! He told me I might not even need to wear braces for 2 years! Perfect! I was already imagining myself with my brand new smile. Absolutely brilliant!

And then, his tone changed. He told me my wisdom teeth weren’t growing vertically, instead they were growing horizontally! This is so bizarre. I had never heard of such thing before. I had yet to hear the worst. ‘Darling, I think you should have them extracted. We usually take out the other two upper teeth and two bottom ones to make room for braces. But in your case, since your wisdom teeth aren’t growing the right way and one is already affecting the next molar… it’s best you get rid of them.’ I thought I was going to faint!!! OMG!! Did he just tell me something I didn’t want to hear?!! Wisdom teeth, FOUR wisdom teeth, having them extracted?!!

OMG!!! I remember holding the chair so tight that my knuckles turned white. I heard myself asking him silly things, ‘Why can’t I just keep them?! OMG! I am so scared already… Is there other option?’ I felt like running away and never looked back! It was a nightmare, such a nightmare! How could I be so naive about visiting a dentist or an orthodontist?! I am sure they want to make my life hell, one way or another, by extracting my teeth or making funny holes on my teeth! I shouldn’t have trusted them!!

Okay, maybe I dramatized the whole thing a little. Nonetheless, I was seriously scared, okay! The good news was, my upper wisdom teeth haven’t grown yet, which means, I only had two teeth to pull out. Two is already a plural, mind you! Dr. J really has got skills, he spoke the magic words before I left. ‘If you want to have a pretty smile, girl, you’ve gotta be brave! That’s the only way!’

Gotta be brave, huh? With that I left. The next thing I realized, I was telling my mum I wanted to get rid of my wisdom teeth! Of course mum didn’t take my words seriously. After all, these words came from a girl who regards ant bite as VERY painful, cried when she got her ears pierced, yeah, at the age of 21 and crushed the poor nurse’s hand when she received an injection in highschool. Uh-hmm, that’s me and now you know why mum was skeptical, no, she was not only skeptical, she wanted to laugh at me. I so could see that from her eyes!

Later that night, I was evaluating my options. I could screw this, who needs braces to look great?! I could keep my wisdom teeth, no biggie. It’s not like I’d die if I didn’t have ‘em extracted, right? OR I could face it like a real adult, get past my deepest fear, go get rid of the two stupid and literally useless wisdom teeth (I now call them good-for-nothing) and be pretty for the rest of my life. Yeah, I always thought if fairy godmother showed herself in front of me and I had three wishes to make, I’d first have her make me grow taller then grant me two rows of beautiful pearly teeth AND finally grant me another three wishes! Hehehe…

Just to make things clear, this has absolutely nothing to do with plastic surgery, okay! It’s how funny a colleague of mine commented at my sudden urge to have my teeth straightened. He said I would be ready for plastic surgery as well. Heck no! You seriously think I wanna have my body ripped apart and then stitched back as if I was a slab of meat?! Thanks but no thanks.

Anyways, I made up my mind finally. I should get rid of good-for-nothing. Besides, I am an adult now. I think this time I should be able to overcome my dentophobia. I was really positive about it! Cheers, to adulthood and beyond!

Tuesday afternoon while at work, mum texted. ‘Girl, appointment made. 1 pm Thursday with Dr. Chu.’ OMG!!! How could she act so fast?! I was…about…about to have a second thought about all this… Maybe we should wait after CNY! My wisdom teeth really can wait, you know! The rest is history…

This morning I woke up feeling really good about myself. I told almost everyone at work that I was going to extract my teeth and they gave their well wishes. There was simply no turning back now.

9.30am: still feeling rather relaxed.

10.30am, couldn’t help looking at the clock praying for it to go slower…

11.30am: sitting in the car singing along with the Snow Patrol, still trying to block away the grand escape plan mentally drafted out.

12.30pm: standing outside the clinic, checking out escape routes… heart rate soaring…

1.00pm: walking in the surgical room with mum… my mind was a complete BLANK!

Dr. Chu, (yeah, I know we have the same surname but he’s not in any way related to me) asked me to lie down on the surgical chair while he examined my teeth and cross checked with my x-ray film. I couldn’t see his expression since I had my eyes tightly shut the moment I lied down on that chair! Besides, I couldn’t bare the sight of those silvery equipment lying on the tray next to the chair. The checking stop. I shut my mouth and opened my eyes to see him pointing at some chart while talking to my mum.

‘This is really expensive. One tooth cost easily 1k. It’s a really complicated case.’ I saw mum’s face when she heard the price. A freaking one thousand bucks per tooth! This is insane!! I looked nervously at mum… Thinking maybe we should forget about it and head home. Mum didn’t say a word; probably was thinking about salvaging my teeth and her bank account. Finally, doctor confirmed that wisdom teeth are useless, they don’t help chewing food. On the other hand, they can be rather cumbersome to maintain.

With that, Dr. Chu and mum had a deal. Two teeth for 1.5k, no extra charges on medication and the next checkup. (what?! what next checkup?!) Mum’s pleased with her bargain. Poor me, my hope of going home with all my teeth eluded. Darn! ‘If you guys are busy, come back 1.5 hours later. We should finish by then.’ Mum gave me one last look and off she left. Now it all came down to just one thing, holding still…

But I couldn’t! My whole body was shaking so badly. I clenched my fists tightly on top of my stomach, resisting the urge of punching Dr. Chu and his assistant on the face and running for my life. I couldn’t relax. My shoulders were stiff, so stiff that it hurt. I felt like a fish out of water. Dr. Chu wasted no time, sticked something into my mouth to keep it open. Just when I was about to surrender under his hands, I saw it! A bit fat syringe!!! He took it in his hand and aimed right at my gum. Once, twice, thrice. 3 shots in what, 10 seconds? I thought I was going to die! I could feel the needle penetrated into my gum. It hurt! It must be the anethesia. My jaw felt funny after a few minutes. My eyes remained tightly shut. But I could see him holding scalpel getting ready to dissect my gum (75% of my teeth was trapped in the gum) with my mind’s eye. I held my breath allowed my fear to take over my whole body.

I was completely out of control at this point. Not that I was shaking, I was crying too! Drops and drops of tear rolled down my cheek. I think I completely pissed the doctor off with that. ‘I need your corporation. I cannot work if you are so tensed like that. Put your hands down now and relax.’ What a bad a$$ doctor! Did he just tell me off?! On a second thought, maybe I deserved that.

‘You are going to hear some noises now, ok? But it’s just a lot of water going through your mouth. Relax.’ SOME noises, how dare he say some noises?! Goodness me, the noises were deafening! It’s the drilling sound, my nemesis!!! He must be do some serious drilling. Oh boy, the noise! It’s a miracle I didn’t go deaf!

Honestly, it only hurt a little bit here and there. But I was groaning almost all the time! I know, I know, what a drama queen, hmm?

I couldn’t remember how many rounds the drilling took place. I started to hum ‘I Surrender All’ over and over again. This hymm worked like magic; calming me down. My mind was all about the song. Surprisingly, I found myself relaxed, releasing my clenched fists for the first time. It helped me to forget about the drilling and the pulling. I couldn’t care less what the doctor and his assistants thought of me. I kept my eyes closed and continued to hum throughout the whole surgery.

It must be easier for Dr. Chu to work on my teeth when I was calmed and relaxed. Finally, the drilling and the fluid sucking sound ended. The room was in a still silence. I gave out a relieved sigh and cracked my eyes open just a fraction to ensure it was all over. The last bit of my left wisdom tooth was extracted out. I caught a glimpse of it covered with blood. He murmured something to the nurse and I guess he it’s time for stitching up! Surprisingly, that didn’t hurt a little.

I was instructed to open my mouth a little wider. It seemed like the doc was going to operate on the right tooth.C’mone, gimme a break! My mouth felt so tired after being kept open for at least 45 minutes. I gestured wildly at the doc hoping that he could take that nasty little plasticky thingy out from my mouth a little while. He must have misunderstood me when he saw me finguring one. I meant ONE minute, just gimme one minute. ‘No, no, no, it’s too late now.’, he said. Darn, he thought I wanted to leave the right tooth till next visit. He pushed my head back on the chair. I had no choice but to lie still once again.

I started humming again, only louder this time. It wasn’t as scary this time. But my legs couldn’t help turning jelly when I saw the syringe again! My right jaw went numb in no time. Another round of drilling, sucking, pulling and stitching. Was it my imagination or he did he quicker than the left one? My agony ended in about 20 minutes’ time, if my count was correct. One last stitch and it’s all done! I opened my eyes when there was no more sound in the room.

I rinsed my mouth as instructed and waited for the chair to come down. Lying on the tray were pieces of fractures of my wisdom teeth. They were still covered with blood, my blood! I felt a sense of triumphant. I have successfully conquered my fear for now. I know I will completely freak out once again when I have the upper ones extracted. What the heck, it’s still an achievement!

I couldn’t feel my lips nor my chin. In fact, I couldn’t feel anything from nose down. It’s a funny sensation. I felt as if my lips were swelling. That didn’t bother me too much, to be honest. I was too elated to be worried.

I waited till my parents came back from lunch. They were surprised to see me sitting at the waiting room, perfectly alright. Mum asked if it hurt. I shook my head and returned a proud smile. I think I was smugging.

Doctor gave me a pamphlet to read. It says I am refrained from spitting, rinsing my mouth, drinking with straw, bending down, and the list goes on. I was more worried about the blue black on my face I might get after the surgery. Doctor said it’s quite likely to happen on me since I have fair skin. He also handed me 5 different packets of pills. Pain killer, super pain killer, antibiotics and some other pills. He also mentioned that I couldn’t move my jaws as much as before for a few days. Gosh, does that mean I can’t talk as much?! It’s gonna kill me.

I just had my dinner. First attempt of feeding porridge into my mouth wasn’t as successful. I felt a sharp pain on my left gum immediately. Glad that it didn’t last for too long. This is the first time I took ages to finish my meal… Oh boy, heaven knows I am a fast eater. This is such a nuisanse!

The pain is bearable for now. Hopefully it will get better tomorrow. Hmmm, but why did the doctor give me 2 days of MC then?! This is not right! Maybe it will get worsen tomorrow?!! Oh man! I can’t imagine…

Anyway, I should take a bow now. My bed is beckoning and I haven’t taken my shower yet!

Yeah, I am darn proud of myself.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 1st, 2007 at 7:07 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.