Dental Issues

I hadn't been to the dentist for 25 years (there about - last time I went I was a child, I assume it was for a cleaning. We stopped going when we moved, then my dentist went to jail - can't remember why, but it definitely made me not want to see a dentist). Until February this year because I had horrible mouth pain. I was able to get a quick appointment at a dental office that understands anxiety.

First visit, I'm anxious, but it's more because I don't know what to expect and scared of what could be causing my mouth pain, which had almost ceased since making the appointment, but I clearly am overdue for a dental exam so let's go. They take countless X-rays and pictures. Meet the dentist and he performs an exam. He's almost done poking around my gums when he sees the issues - I have a fractured tooth. But otherwise, he boasts that I have cleaner teeth than a lot of his patients he's seen despite my lack of dental cleanings.

Okay, so fractured tooth. Shit, that ain't good. Tooth is cracked down the middle so it has to be removed. Dentist and treatment coordinator discuss my overall dental health and what they'd like to do. My wisdom teeth were good, but they showed signs of decay so they'd have to be removed sometime later. "So since we're sedating you, would you like us to remove those now?"

I was so overwhelmed, but yeah, sure, let's remove 5 teeth at the same time! And they didnt even give me an option of sedation, they figured it in. I was fortunate that I had a paid vacation 2 weeks after that exam, and there was an available time to schedule it.

Fuck, that was stupid. 2 weeks of anxiety about EVERYTHING! I've never been sedated before. Never had any dental work done. I went insane for 2 weeks. My poor best friend got countless texts.

The extraction day, I did everything to calm myself down. My best friend FaceTimed me, I took a relaxing shower. My family prayed for me before heading out. I'm actually feeling good about everything.

I'm laying in the dentist chair, hooked up to all their monitors and the dentist is trying to find my vein for the IV sedation. Shit, I have crap veins. Poor guy had fun finding one and I had the bruises to prove it. He suggests some nitrous gas to help find a vein. At first, I was fine. He ups the nitrous and all of a sudden, I freak the fuck out! I can't breathe, I can't speak, I'm beyond panicked. I remember being like UH, UH, but I'm sure my heart rate started going wonky and they were like what's wrong?! Dental assistant turns off the nitrous, I breathe in oxygen and calm the fuck down. Well, I guess the dentist found a vein and got the IV in, cause I don't remember anything after that. Woke up, extraction (as well as a sealant and 3 fillings) is done. Dentist says everything went great, writes me prescriptions and I go home.

Pain is something I can normally deal with. But in this case, I didn't want to experience any pain. So I followed the medication doses to a T. He only my prescribed me extra strength Tylenol and prescription strength Advil (800 mg), so no painkillers, just pain relievers. And going a week without being able to take Advil (before the surgery) was the worst! I had a gout attack about a week before and Advil is my best anti inflammatory for that.

I manage everything well. No pain, eating was fun, but I tried to take it slow and easy. I haven't had the best appetite since having Covid, so I wasn't hungry all that often, but I tried to make sure I ate around the time I had to take pills so I wasn't taking those on an empty stomach. First day after the extraction, I made a bowl of pudding and that's all I ate all day, little bit at a time.

A week after, I had my post-op visit. I was so anxious that something wasn't right. Because how would I truly know - I've never had dental work done, so is this or that normal, is my brain just having a hard time adjusting. By that time, I had gone back to work, so I had to work 8 hours before my visit. Dentist called while I was working, asking questions (literally, I was trying to work retail while he's asking me shit), and he was like, well, if everything seems normal, then you don't really have to come in. Uhhhh, no, I wanna make sure everything is good.

So after work (had to leave 15 minutes early to make my appointment on time), head in and dentist takes a look, makes sure my fillings are aligned. Everything is great! BEST RELIEF!!!

Stopped at the desk to get a deep cleaning schedule. Now I'm shitting bricks about that.