Tuesday 4 November 2014

Teeth (not for the faint-hearted)

So, yesterday morning I pootled down to the dentist, not exactly with a spring in my step and a song in my heart, but confident that this one last filling (the latest to be overlooked by my technology-loving, Classic FM-listening regular dentist) would free me from thinking about my teeth for the rest of the year. (This saga kicked off with a raging toothache on my return from Nice - another legacy of the Classic FM-lover, who had given me a 'check-up' only a couple of weeks before.)
The very efficient irregular dentist shot me full of something numbing - she has a generous hand with the anaesthetic - and drilled away. And discovered the tooth was in such a state that it could either be (a) saved and crowned after extensive, intensive and very expensive work, or (b) extracted. And it was a wisdom tooth - an upper, but still a wisdom tooth. So (a) it wouldn't be missed, but (b) it would probably be a bastard to extract.
Well, I opted to lose it there and then, and the irregular set to work with a will and an alarming range of instruments. Much yanking and heaving ensued (I'll spare you the details) and for a while it looked hopeless, but in the end - ping! Out it came. The reason it put up such a fight was that it was blessed with one more root than expected. This is said to indicate Iberian genes (well I certainly love Lisbon) and the extra root is something I have in common with Mrs N - that and our shared passion for Brian Cox documentaries, hem hem.
 Anyway, the aftermath was not pleasant and I spent most of the ensuing day and night feeling grim, with half my mouth stuffed with blood-soaked gauze. But the bleeding finally stopped some time in the small hours, and the pain hasn't been too bad. And that, I hope, is the last you'll hear of my teeth for a good long time.

4 comments:

  1. It's incredible that we still have teeth in the 21st Century. They should all be whipped out at the age of ten and replaced with nice solid durable white dentures that never hurt.

    That this doesn't happen I can only ascribe to a giant dental industry conspiracy

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  2. Sympathy all round Nige, nothing strikes fear like a toothy tale of woe, except, possibly, in those instances of private tonsorial parlour work, the bill. Incidentally, how do our slebs maintain their cosmetic surgery induced gleaming white Hampsteads? gargle with bleach maybe.

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  3. Porcelain veneers I believe Malty - or else they had them all whipped out at 10, as Brit recommends?

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  4. With all the procedure that you’ve gone through, I would wish the same -- that it will be your last for a very long time. I know it wasn’t easy to handle all that pain. Thankfully, you won't have to deal with those things anymore soon. How are you now, btw?

    Bernadette Blair @ Cheung DDS

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