Not too much has been going on in the running front. I'm hauling my butt out the door for about 3 miles a day. I'm distracted by all the other things I've been wanting to do lately. More on that some other time.
Saturday I was getting ready to go to work, chowing down on a Subway sandwich before heading out the door for a 12 hour overnight shift in Martinsville when suddenly - CRUNCH!!! Something broke inside my mouth. I yelped. I was positive I was going to spit a tooth out. I carefully removed everything from my mouth. No tooth. No nothing that looked hard or suspicious. What the heck!!??
I rinsed out my mouth. I could taste blood. Something had to be broken. I had hubs look inside my mouth. He thought everything looked OK. My mouth hurt like hell, like someone was taking an icepick and shoving it through one of my right upper molars and into my eyeball. I tried to gather myself for a couple minutes then decided something was really wrong. I called my dentist's office. Yes, it was Saturday night on Labor Day weekend. I knew the office was closed but I at least wanted to leave a message saying I needed help on Tuesday morning ASAP!
The recording I got said to leave a message or, if it was a dental emergency and I was an established patient, call Dr. Wilman's cell phone. I stared at the phone trying to decide whether this was a dental emergency or not. I wasn't holding a tooth in my hand but the whole right side of my face felt like it had been hit by a jack hammer. What the heck. I might as well tell him in person that I had to see him on Tuesday. It was one of those moments where I was glad I was in the office almost every other month with a kid or myself so he knew me well. Dr. Wilman was at Lake Michigan for the holiday weekend. He thought that whatever happened, the damage was already done so come in on Tuesday and he'd take care of it.
I downed some Motrin and went to work. I had one of my colleagues look inside my mouth. She couldn't see anything wrong. I had my nurse practioner look inside my mouth. She thought maybe there was something irregular with the tooth at the gumline but again, nothing really obvious. Was I crazy? Maybe the pain would pass. But noooo... everytime I accidentally bit down on something I'd get a shooting pain up my skull. Drat. I was starving. I couldn't even swallow with my lips shut because the negative pressure inside my mouth would make my tooth hurt. Let's just say it was a loooong weekend. I lived on Motrin and mashed potatoes.
This morning I was in the office as soon as they opened. I was absolutely thrilled that they could see me right away. Dr. Wilman's tech Sean took me back to look at my teeth. I had figured out by then that the tooth only hurt if you tapped directly on the backside of it. I could press and point on the frontside and be OK. He gently poked around... is it this...or this? Owwww... Then he decided to blow some air on it. I screamed and came out of the chair. He told me he'd be back... after he changed his pants. Sorry to startle you Sean.
So... the tooth looked OK to Sean too. The x-rays looked fine. However, based on my reaction, he figured the tooth was cracked. Dr. Wilman came in and decided to numb my mouth to look at the tooth some more. Thank you. Please numb the snot out of it. They blew some more air on it. I didn't punch anyone this time so they figured it was safe to touch me with an instrument. Yup, it was cracked.
No wonder it hurt like hell!!
In fact, it was cracked so deep they told me they couldn't save it. If it had been cracked a little, they'd do a root canal where they'd remove the nerve and put a crown over the tooth. However, since my tooth was cracked all the way in two, I'd have to get the tooth pulled. Then they'd put an implant in. An implant is essentially a fake tooth. They put a screw in the bone where the tooth was. The screw has to heal in place for about 4 months. After that, they screw in a tooth. Yay me. I get an implant.
So... that's how I spent my morning. At the dentist's office getting my tooth pulled and a screw put in my head. I also got to be their "interesting patient." Impressive. Go big or go home. Those were the comments from the office staff. Apparently I really did a number on my tooth. All from biting down wrong on a Subway sandwich. I was told that sometimes your teeth just break in two - especially the premolars because of the way they are shaped.
Now I'm just waiting for the numbing to wear off so I can eat. I had him numb me up four times cause I wanted to be damn sure I was numb before he yanked a tooth out and drilled a screw in my head. It's a little bit disconcerting when they put safety glasses on you and get out the power tools. The root of the tooth went right to my maxillary sinus - that's the sinus that's just under your right eye - so that's why it felt like someone was shoving an icepick up my tooth into my eye. Now the whole right side of my face is numb. If I wanted a nose piecing, now would be the perfect time. Of course I had to go to the pharmacy looking like I'd had a stroke and drooling but I wanted to make sure I got all my good drugs before the numbing wore off. So there you have it. Probably more information than you ever wanted to know about my day today. I think my meds are kicking in. Cheers!
A cracked tooth? Yikes. It kind of pulled you into several places at once there – making you feel like you lost a tooth, yet you aren't exactly spitting out one. There is also cruelty in how the teeth is split right at the middle so that one side would seem like things are fine, while the other is where most of the pain is. It would be best if you just got rid of that tooth completely. That's what's going to make things a bit more manageable. Take care!
ReplyDeleteIsabel Phelps @ Buckhead Dentist