Life | Wisdom Tooth Removal

It has truly been one hell of a week. 

For the past seven days, I've been eating porridge and other soft foods like ice cream, cakes, eggs and did I mention porridge?

I was nagged by my dentist since 4 years ago to remove my wisdom tooth since they were growing in weird positions (but after consulting another dentist I discovered it wasn't really THAT weird. tsk.) and they could cause problems when I got older. At an age where most of my friends were only doing braces, removing wisdom teeth sounded stupid and unnecessary. And it costs ALOT (an average of $900 - $1200) to remove just one tooth. Taking out all 4 would mean a huge amount of nearly $5000. Plus, it is best to rest for at least one week (most people get 5 days MC). Being a student back then, taking one week off from school was out of the question with O levels and A levels to prepare for.

So here I am, 4 years later and suffering from not taking them out earlier. Recently the spacing between my teeth become non-existent and the front teeth started to overlap. I kept waking up from the pain/irritation at night and eventually my dentist told me again to take them out. It's advisable to take them out at ages 19-24 when the teeth are more stable yet roots have not grown completely, and bone soft enough to drill through.

So I did. On the day of the supposed surgery, I took an xray and guess what? He said that it was too risky as one of the roots was near the nerve and he didn't have the confidence to do it. He persuaded me and my mum (under much confusion and pressure) to take a CT scan of my teeth so that other dentists could operate on it with better precision (???) Good thing was that he was being honest about it if not I would have risked losing my tastebuds or facial control if anything went wrong LOL. Bad thing was that, the CT scan was a complete waste of money ($600 bucks and we still regret it) and I had to find another dentist ASAP. My mum's colleague recommended me to Thomson Medical and thank goodness I went there. The staff there were so nice and patient, and the dentist was probably the best medical/healthcare personnel I ever encountered. Sadly she couldn't operate on it too but she referred me to an oral surgeon and I got it done and over with a week later. 

How  did the process feel like?

(I'm writing this post as I couldn't find alot of useful posts on this online heh)

Anyways, it felt like hell. 

Okay kidding it wasn't as bad as dislocating my knee, but it felt like hell because I was the one who chose to have the surgery. What I mean is, accidents always happen, but this surgery is one that I chose to go through, and for that reason I felt like I was putting myself through hell. 

Some cream was applied to the right side of my mouth (I was taking out both molars on the right) and after 10 minutes, the surgeon injected LA into gums and I was awake through the whole process. I could feel the pressure, the pulling and pushing. It didn't hurt because my nerves were numbed, and they even covered my eyes and body. But from the sounds of the drilling and the force the surgeon was using, I knew that my jaw and mouth would be VERRRRRRY sore after the surgery. I guess I was just traumatised because I wasn't mentally prepared and the drilling sounds were so close to my ear, it felt like the surgeon was tearing down a building in my mouth hahaha

Removing the teeth took about 30 min and the whole thing was done in about one hour. 

The anaesthetic wore off about 3hours later but the gum bled non-stop till dinner and I could hardly drink/swallow anything.

I could not open my mouth fully, smile or brush my right teeth teeth/gum for the next few days too. 

Diet was like I mentioned, mostly porridge and anything that required minimal chewing. 

And that made me really angsty, since I was stuck at home just waiting for days to pass. I felt like a pig, just eating and sleeping heh oink. I wasn't in pain, but I was too uncomfortable with the swollen cheek and jaw that I did not want to do anything.

On Day 6 and 7 (today), I managed to eat some bread (YAY FOOD!!) AND I HOPE TO EAT MORE REAL FOOD AFTER TAKING OUT STITCHES TMRW :) bless me cuz shermin told me that taking stitches out is pain too. But I've survived this far, and I will get through it tmrw and EAT GLORIOUS FOOD (I'm writing this with a growling stomach now....)

Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better. - Jim Rohn

Reviews to do:
- music (feb/mar)
- six flying dragons