Wisdom Teeth

I'm in Lexington again this weekend. SouthernKitten is taking a nap at the moment, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to do some blogging. (edit: I finished and posted this a few hours later)

SouthernKitten's been complaining a bit recently about pain in the back of her mouth. She fears her wisdom teeth may be the cause but hopes it isn't as she'd heard a few horror stories of wisdom teeth coming out.

My experience really wasn't at all bad.

I first noticed what I assume was pain from my wisdom teeth the spring I was 18. Basically the back of my mouth was sore and tender. But, being a male I first used the "If I ignore it, it will go away" approach to the problem. After a couple of weeks it did.

A few months later, on my next visit to the dentist I was told they were impacted and would need to come out asap. We went to an orthodontist in Barrie (a bigger city, about half a hour drive south of Orillia) to have it done.

I have some rather gaping holes in my memory about the day of the operation. My mom drove me to his office, I sat in the chair, he injected me with something white and milky looking...

I woke up in the recovery room. I felt fine, so I sat up. A nurse rushed over and strongly advised me against that. I laid back down mostly to placate her. I really did feel fine, and this was a bit silly.

I next woke in my bedroom the next morning. I'm told that my mother had enlisted the help of the father of a fellow patient to help hold me up as I staggered to the car. I have no recollection of this at all. Nor do I have any recollection of the half hour long car ride home, nor of being put into my bed. I assume all these things happened, it's logical that they did, but it's really equally as plausible to me that I flew home in a UFO.

The next day was a admittedly unpleasant. The hangover from the anesthetic was as bad as my worst one from alcohol. I won't get more graphic than that. Use your imagination.

My cheeks and jowls were swollen enough that my family thought I looked like John Diefenbaker. I took the pain meds, but only for a couple of days. Soon enough the swelling went down I was forgetting to take my meds because I just didn't hurt that much.

My follow up appointment was like a mutual admiration society. My surgery had gone well, I thought the doctor was great and he thought I was a great patient.

Hopefully SouthernKitten won't have to have hers out. If she does I hope she has as easy of a time as I did.