Monday, April 18, 2011

none the wiser

I have spent the last week curled up on couch, clutching bags of frozen peas and corn to my face, eating soup and ice cream and sleeping for hours at a time in the middle of the day. No, this is not the newest cure for the common cold but instead my rest and recovery from the removal of all four of my wisdom teeth last week. While I’m happy to report that my dentist thinks I’m recovering well and I’m feeling much better than the immediate effects made me feel, I’m even happier that all four are now gone and I won’t have to go through such a surgery again.
I can’t complain about much because all really did go well and my lovely husband spent all week waiting on me hand and foot… but I think the most worrisome (and perhaps most funny) part about the whole process were the tales told to me by others as opposed to the actual operation itself. I know it’s true that misery loves company so I shouldn’t have been surprised by the reactions of those around me when I told them I was having my teeth taken out. The horror stories and tales of terror that I heard in the weeks leading up to my appointment should have been enough to scare me away from the surgery altogether. It seemed that everyone’s brother’s, cousin’s, best friend’s uncle hadn’t been as lucky as I would be and seemed to have had the worst happen to them. Weeks of bruising, bad reactions to the medication, or multiple weeks off work…but don’t worry, they all assured me, I’d be fine. (Really? What makes you so sure?) I don’t know about you but that’s not really the type of pep talk that has me pumped for what’s to come. Looking back, it’s made me laugh and has made me feel better about my recovery, knowing that mine was not as bad as many out there. And now, it’s nice to know that after returning to work, and back to more normal routine, everyone has been feeling my pain. It’s amazed me how much talking about trips to the dentist seems to be common ground for everyone around me. While I wasn’t quite like little David in the above video, I did give my husband a few laughs and my visit to the dentist was surprisingly much more of a hot topic than I ever thought it would be.

Do you mind trips to the dentist? Have you had your wisdom teeth removed?

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm nearly 30 and still haven't had my wisdom teeth out -- I'm terrified of it!

Traveling Distances said...

I've heard so many horror stories of wisdom teeth removal that I'm terrified. Otherwise, regular dental check up is alright...not fun, but not dreadful.

Glad to hear you had a good recovery. I think you're the first to not have negative feelings towards wisdom teeth removal.

Jen said...

Yup, I've had mine out and it definately wasn't as funny as some of the Youtube vids I've seen!! Those are hillarious!

Happy Monday Dear! xo

PoetessWug said...

The video is too funny! I remember that feeling. :-) Yes, I had all 4 wisdom teeth and another tooth also all taken out at the same time!! And guess what?!...There's no horror story! I slept right through it, went home and slept, had to rinse my mouth for a day with salt water, and the next day? Not even sore! The moral of the story?! We're all different. One man's horror story can be another girl's "Phew! I'm glad I got those things out of my mouth!" LOL

Anna Elder said...

i had my wisdom teeth pulled while i was living in CA with my dad during college. everything went well...except that they gave me gas before they put my IV in and apparently had a hard time finding a vein and i woke up to a black (black!!) left arm. i was so nervous about what i might say...they dr's teased me about how tan i was (i worked at a tanning salon at the time), and i don't know if i said anything weird with my dad, but i remember driving home with ice packs on my face thinking "just don't say anything. dont say anything" over and over.

hope recovery is speedy! i enjoyed eating mashed potatoes and frozen yogurt for a week. :)

a little black cloud in a dress said...

I need to get mine removed! I've been putting it off, but it's probably something I'll have to get done this year. :[

I remember how people used to do that sort of thing to me while I was pregnant - telling me horror stories about labor and the side effects of pregnancy. It's so rude! The good news is, nothing is as bad as it seems. :]

SJ said...

i had mine removed awhile ago and had to have a general anaesthetic as i had to have all 4 of them out. my mum was the worst with the horror stories as she's a nurse and it really wasn't what i needed to hear when i was about to go into surgery!

i recovered pretty well but the pain lasted longer than i had expected. and my poor jaw, i couldn't eat apples or hamburgers for aaaaages!

glad you're feeling better now :)

Tara said...

I honestly don't even want to THINK about having my wisdom teeth removed, thanks to all of the horror stories I've heard!

I floss daily and am really good about brushing my teeth as well (at least twice a day and all that jazz) so trips to the dentist don't really bother me. In fact, I just went today!

Crazy Shenanigans-JMO said...

Thankfully I don't have to have mine removed! I've had cavities before and had to have had them filled though.

Diana Mieczan said...

I am not a huge fan of dentist visits but we have a friend who is a dentist so we always go to him. Btw: This video is so adorable and totally funny...Poor little guy! Glad that you are feeling better, darling. Happy Tuesday

Ashley said...

sending love your way for recovery! I had to work 13 HOURS the day AFTER I got all of mine taken out! I was the manager of a big gym, and couldnt miss it. I do NOT remember that day at all... hahaha!

THE ALTERNATIVE WIFE said...

YIKES! All 4 at once??? You're a trooper! I never had to have mine removed but I remember J did while we were in college and the pain was so bad that it was almost as if it happened to me. LOL Feel better, love! xoxo

Leeann @ Join the Gossip said...

Ugh I had all four of mine pulled out at once, too. It was so damn painful. Sadly I learned at that time that vicodine has no effect on me...so yeah a painful few days.

Glad your recovery is coming along pretty well!

A Crimson Kiss said...

Oh sweetheart, glad your recovery is going well! My best friend ended up with dry sockets one Christmas break and I've been avoiding getting my wisdom teeth removed ever since!

Brandi said...

I had my wisdom teeth out when I was 17, and it was quite an experience! I accidentally took all my medicine at once and ended up passing out on my parents' bed. It was funny. But not at the time. Hope you're back to your normal self really soon!

Rhianne said...

you are so brave to have them all removed at one time! I ended up having two baby teeth removed that hadn't fallen out which made space for mine to come through

I'd heard lots of horror stories about wisdom teeth too so I was completely put off surgery :/

k said...

that video is always so funny to me!! i had my wisdom teeth removed and i think mark didn't think it was a huge deal, meanwhile i was in so much pain! it got better after about 3 days though. OH and i was taking care of a new pupppy at the time and mark had his out 3 days later, haha! we were a fun bunch!

Blair McLeod said...

the dentist is not my favorite!

oh wisdom teeth!... the stories people have to tell are always priceless. glad your experience was not too terrible.

Natasha and Jesse said...

I'm so glad I got all of mine out at once. I had a bad reaction to the pain medication so it wasn't fun. My boyfriend still has to get his out and I tried not to scare him too much! Glad you're feeling better.

OneCraftyFox said...

Oh sweetie, I feel your pain! I had mine done three years ago and Hunny took a pic of me all drugged up with bags of frozen peas on my cheeks.

The worst part was though... it was the second time it was done :( The first time the dental surgeon failed to read my medical record before injecting me with freezing which I was allergic too. Long story short, I had a terrible reaction, he panicked and broke the tooth he was trying to extract quickly, I started having heart palpitations and had to be rushed to the hospital.

I put the remaining extractions off for years which caused crowding and all sorts of other issues in my mouth and was absolutely TERRIFIED to get the remaining teeth pulled.

The second time around I was put under gas (by a different surgeon of course), and about $4K later (with no insurance) all of my dental issues were solved.

And that is the horror story of my life. LOL. I suppose it could have been worse.

Happy Easter weekend! I hope your mouth feels better so you can eat some chocolate eggies :)

Marisa Seguin said...

I had my wisdom teeth removed when I was in high school and the thing that scared me the most was having to take the pills beforehand! (I couldn't swallow pills and am still not great at it). It took me about half an hour to get down four tiny little pills!

Have you seen this video? Always makes me laugh: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/ef5aae7546/meg-ryan-after-the-dentist

Selma @ Crazy Little World Of Mine said...

Awwww...this never gets old. :) So cute and super funny!

Anna said...

I really hope you recover and feel better soon! Wisdom teeth out is not fun:(

Lorraine said...

I still have all my smart teeths. The dentist has never mentioned taking them out, and I'm sort of hoping that if I sit around saying "please ignore my wisdom teeth" over and over in my head whie I'm at the dentist, he'll just forget completely about them!

David After Dentist makes up all the notifications on my phone. It makes me happy to hear, 'I feel funny' every time I get an email.

Lor

thegirlhassparke said...

Oh I hope your feeling better! I have never had any teeth removed but I do have all my wisdom teeth so I may need them out one day, fingers crossed I dont as I hate the dentist.

Ravi Raiya said...

If you have wisdom teeth Pain then I think Warm Salt Water Rinse With Peppermint will help a lot in pain relief. i got this problem once. i used Warm Salt Water. i got a lot of relief