new experience in anxiety...

I broke a tooth for the first time.

I was enjoying my home made chili at lunchtime on Monday at work, when POP...there was this huge sound inside my head.

I swallowed reflexively before I could find the bone chip that was lost in the chili meat....and then I felt the pain.

That unmistakable nerve pain of a tooth in distress.

Uh oh.

I felt around with my tongue, and realized instantly that I was dealing with a cracked molar. I could feel the crack, on the inside, by the tongue.

I only have 4 bi-cuspids (aka: pre molars), and this was the front molar on the lower left--so, for me, the middle tooth on the left side. There was a distinctive crack on the inside surface. And it felt very, very unpleasant.

So, I put my lunch away, after eating about a third of it, and called Dave.

While I gently flossed and brushed around all of my OTHER teeth, he called around, and was able to find a dentist office that took emergencies, and accepted our insurance.

I was there by 2.

I was utterly terrified. At almost 49 years old, this was my first experience in breaking a tooth.

I was literally shaking like a leaf--the fear was unbelievable...I was in a strange place, surrounded by strangers, with no one in any waiting rooms offering me moral support.

This was big girl stuff!

Got dammit!

The assistant took a slew of x rays, and then the dentist came in, did a quick, excruciating exam, and told me that, between the exam, and the xrays, he had determined that the break was clean, and that the tooth was still in good enough shape that I did NOT need a root canal.

He said they would do a crown, and hopefully, it would be decades before I would need anything else on that tooth. And, Oh, and by the way, the tooth above it is too sharp and long, so he would grind that down a bit, too.

He ordered the anesthetic, and the temp crown material, and left.

Then, the assistant put a unilateral tray in my mouth to take an impression. "Bite down, hard...harder! Harder" It was excruciating on my broken tooth...and I had to sit there for 5 minutes to form the impression.

And, when she said "Okay, OPEN...OPEN..." and I struggled to open my jaw, separating lower from upper in the gluey mess, I felt my tooth come apart.

Oh. My.
God.

My mouth filled with blood. "It's okay" she said, as they suctioned the blood out of my mouth, and tried to retrieve the broken piece of tooth from the impression material.

This was not, at all, fun.

I felt faint and nauseous, but I maintained.

I figured out at that moment that the reason that tooth had been previously sensitive, on occasion, was possibly because it was already cracked a little.
Perhaps on the back, since the portion that had lifted out with the impression was the inner, back quarter of the tooth.

Then, a little while later, another person came in and gave me three shots of novocaine. Three.

After that joyous experience, I sat there alone for almost an hour while the entire left side of my head went numb.

Eventually, the dentist came back in, and he ground everything down. The smell of burning bone came out of my mouth and went right up my nose. He ground the tooth above....a bit further than I felt necessary, but what are you going to do? Glue it back on?

Again, I felt nauseous and faint...but I maintained.

Then, he gave me instructions on how to deal with my injured mouth (my gums were torn to shreds, and there were cuts and abrasions under my tongue from the bite wing xrays, and their tools), the temporary crown they were going to put in, and that he'd see me in 3 weeks.

The assistant came back in, and she was the one who did the rest of the work.

All in all, I was in the chair for almost 3 hours. It was horrific.

That night, when the novocaine FINALLY wore off around 8 pm (5.5 or so hours after the shots), I was in misery.

I couldn't eat, but I was STARVING, so Dave went and got me a milk shake. I can't really have dairy foods, but since I hadn't had any for several days, it was okay.

That milkshake, eaten carefully with a spoon, was like heaven.

Yesterday, I was in such misery! My jaw muscles felt torn, there were wounds inside my mouth, not just the gum around the injured tooth, but everywhere....and I was in throbbing pain all day. I took prescription strength ibuprofin.

I could eat, very slowly and carefully, and only soft, cooked foods.

I felt as if I had been beaten by thugs.

Today was better....the jaw muscles have recovered a bit, and chewing is less uncomfortable. I have medicine to put on the wounded gums 5 times per day, and have been religious about it.

This has been a very unpleasant experience. PLUS, I got to pay $400 for it! Wheee!~

Just in time to be trying to save every penny to buy a fucking house! What. The. Fuck.....

Sigh.....