I knew that the filling Dr. M had put in a bicuspid had fallen out, but considering he did it 10 years ago, and it didn’t hurt, I wasn’t alarmed. P was going to make an appointment with Dr. M, but he was busy and forgot. I wasn’t in any pain, and I forgot. Once it started to twinge off and on, I put a little piece of that temporary filling stuff over it and went about my business. By last Friday afternoon, it was really irritating me; not exactly hurting, but something was obviously going on. By Friday night, it was just plain hurting. Desperate for sleep, I soaked a full-size cotton ball in clove oil and stuffed it in my cheek. I finally did get to sleep.
Saturday morning, I awoke with my stupid tennis elbow hurting, a headache, and my tooth hurt, plus I had a sore throat from the goddamned clove oil. I took a couple of ibuprofen, and the headache went away, but the toothache still hurt, and it felt like my jaw was stiff.
Sunday. Ohhhhhh, Sunday. My elbow felt better, I think, or at least I didn’t notice it between the raging pain in my jaw, and the fucking migraine I had the instant I woke up. My jaw was really starting to swell. I knew better than to eat or drink anything because just the smell of coffee was making me nauseous, and I couldn’t stand the smell of the ice bag I had to keep on my head, but not eating didn’t help because I kept throwing up anyway. As soon as the urgent care place opened, P drove me there. They gave me a shot of Toradol, a shot of Benadryl, and those little dissolve-y pills for nausea (I threw those up, too). Once the Toradol kicked in, I felt better, and slept for about 4.5 hours.
When I awoke Sunday afternoon, my migraine was gone, but my jaw was even more swollen, and it hurt. Heat didn’t help, ice didn’t help; not clove oil, not salt, not brushing my teeth, not mouthwash…nothing helped. P said he’d start calling dentists first thing Monday morning, and hopefully he’d find one who could see me ASAP. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to go to work, so I didn’t care when or where the appointment was; I just wanted the pain and pressure to STOP! He did find a dentist, and made an appointment for me to go right in. I threw on clothes, decided I didn’t give a shit how my hair looked, and jumped in the car.
The dentist was very nice; he took X-rays, and said that although I had all of the symptoms of abscess, the X-ray didn’t show it, and since the swelling was so bad, he was concerned and wanted me to see an oral surgeon. He made me an appointment for Tuesday morning in MtV, and in the meantime, he drilled a “pressure release hole” in the tooth to help with the pain, and he gave me a prescription for antibiotics. I went to WM to fill that, and pick up the prescriptions for naproxen, chlorahexidine mouth rinse, Imitrex, and some anti-nausea pills that the NP had called in on Sunday. Drugs in hand, I went home to try to get some sleep, crossing my fingers that they’d be able to help me the next day.
P drove me to the Tuesday appointment; we didn’t know what they were going to do, or what anaesthetic I might get, so he dropped me off and went to work, then picked me up when I was done. The surgeon’s assistant asked me whether I wanted nitrous. It cost an extra $89, so I was going to refuse, but she asked whether I was nervous, or had a tendency to flinch, and since even barely touching my jaw hurt, I said, “I’m probably going to flinch.” She said she wasn’t telling me what to do, but she’d recommend the nitrous because, “He’s not going to like that.” At that point, I guessed that the oral surgeon I’d never even met was going to be a horse’s ass. I was not wrong.
The nitrous kept me calm, and it was a good thing, because even with it, he was abrupt, rough, and spoke little. He gave me a novocaine shot that hurt (no sissy benzocaine gel for me!) and the needle was in my jaw before I even knew what was causing the pain because he gave me no warning. Didn’t tell me what he was going to do, or when, or anything. I’m sure that as far as he was concerned, my name was “21” which was the tooth number he was working on. He unceremoniously sliced my gums because he said the local wouldn’t work if there was a lot of infection, but a little warning might have been nice; all I saw was a flash of silver that I assume was a scalpel, then he told his assistant to suction. Jesus! Once I was numb, he came back, yanked out the tooth I’d decided wasn’t worth trying to save with a root canal and crown (too expensive for a “maybe”), again, with absolutely no warning, then equally as abruptly, sliced my gum again, (painfully) stuffed a little rubber thing in that I later discovered was a surgical drain, and put in a couple of stitches to hold it in place. Horrible experience, and then I found out that I’d have to come back on Thursday at 8:30 to have the drain removed. Wasn’t looking forward to that at all.
My jaw hurt a little after the novocain wore off, but he gave me hydrocodone for pain (didn’t really need it, but took one on Tuesday night, just to make sure I could sleep for work the next morning), and the swelling went down nicely. This morning, I went to have the drain removed, which took literally 15 seconds (snip the stitches, pull out the rubber thing…done!) and he was marginally less unpleasant. He’s still a horse’s ass, but I’m told he’s one of the best oral surgeons in the state, so I guess that’s why his office is full even though he’s so unpleasant. Anyway, I’m almost back to normal; the swelling is barely noticeable, and in a couple of days, I should be good as new. I’ll take all of my antibiotics because I always do, but I don’t think I will need anything for pain because all I have now is mild discomfort and some stiffness that’s probably to be expected after nearly a week of combined pain and trauma!
I made a collage…
I took this with the little endoscope that attaches to my phone. Poor resolution, and it was hard getting it in place and hitting the button on my phone with only one hand, but hopefully the only time I’ll ever have a surgical drain in my jaw, so I wanted a picture of some sort.
