Dental Drama

Part 1

I never dreamed what an ordeal having your wisdom teeth out could be. Or rather maybe my concern was 100% regarding the procedure itself rather than the aftermath to follow. GEESH! I totally had it backwards.

On Good Friday, the day arrived. I had contemplated for weeks the amount of pain I might feel, the possible side effects of the anesthesia, the unique scenarios that might occur, and so forth. Well, the surgery itself wasn’t memorable at all. I remember the needle going into my arm, but I don’t remember anything else after that until the dental assistant woke me up and asked if I was able to move. And I was! I had no trouble getting out of the chair—no dizziness or nausea, and I was quickly whisked into the recovery room with my wonderful co-worker Barb there to fuss over me if I needed fussing. But I felt fine. I mean other than the nasty taste of gauze in my mouth, I couldn’t feel a thing. All was well.

The next 24 hours were a breeze. I took my pain meds like clockwork. Barb kept me on my schedule and dosed me up with lots of cold soft foods like ice cream, a frosty, Jell-O and pudding, etc. It was all great.

I woke up Saturday morning with some swelling in both cheeks, but that was normal after all, and I was still feeling great and just ready to get back to my own home. So about 24 hours after surgery, I was back in my own place and enjoying life.

Well, later that same day, the swelling really started to increase. Pretty soon, I lost sight of where my chin ended and my neck started. It all seemed one in the same. And then the pain started in—the kind of pain that you just wanted to sleep off. I didn’t want to move, and so I camped out on my living room sofa with my blanket. And once the meds started making me drowsy, I’d head for my bedroom and crash into bed. But I’d wake up regularly as soon as it was time for another dose of painkillers, and so it went for the next 72 hours.

I had planned to go to work Monday following my surgery, but that didn’t happen. By Monday, the bruising was in full swing. I looked like a seriously battered woman. To look at me, you would have thought that I had a nasty boyfriend who had taken a swing at me! It was pathetic. I was puffy and bruised, and so I called my doctor’s office and was told that the swelling should decrease soon. I waited and waited…

Part 2

On Tuesday, the bruising was still quite evident, and I thought the swelling had gone down some, although I just couldn’t be sure. I called my oral surgeon’s office and was given 2 more prescriptions (since I was nearly out of both painkillers) and told that the swelling was normal, and that after seeing my x-rays, it was clear that I was going to be in for a longer recovery time. Not only were all 4 of my wisdom teeth impacted—meaning that my teeth had not yet broken through the skin in my mouth, but my lower teeth were also coming in completely sideways. Apparently these 2 things are not exactly a dental dream.

I was slightly depressed with the news. I mean, couldn’t they have mentioned this to me before? Well, my sister and her kids came to visit me that day, and they definitely cheered me up. We drove over to the IMA and walked the gardens. It was a wonderful afternoon. I still was feeling some discomfort and oral pain, but it seemed better than before.

On Wednesday, I finally returned to work. I was still slightly swollen, and I could still make out the evidential bruise lines along my jaw line, and so I caked on extra foundation and cover-up and prepared to greet the rest of the world after my hibernation. I felt more pain as the day went along, but I made it through it.

On Thursday, my morning went fine, but soon after lunch, I was feeling some serious pain again, and I had more than 2 hours to go before I could take another dose of medication. So after a co-worker caught me close to tears, I went home and slept for a few hours.

On Friday, I worked a full day and also had my follow-up appointment with the oral surgeon. He seemed to think I was coming along fine and healing well. He had no concerns despite my complaint of sharp pain the day before. He just said I was progressing along well, and he didn’t see any problems.

So this past weekend, I vegged my time away! It was wonderful. I think I got a total of 24 hours of sleep in from Friday night to Sunday morning. Pretty crazy, I know, but it felt good. And today, I’m back to work and feeling much better. I think it will be a while before I crave nachos or try to open my mouth for a Big Mac, but most of the pain is gone, and my swelling and bruising are just a memory now. WOOHOO!!