And Nothing But The Tooth!

They had to go.

I have been taking good care of them for more than a year already. I have nursed them with every sweeties I could lay my hands on. I took good care of them, really. Ignored their misbehavings. Rewarded them instead with handfuls of countless analgesics. And what did they repay me? Miserable episodes of toothaches.

So, I decided, after a year of discerning what to do (and how to pay for their extraction), I made an appointment with my classmate's mom, who is a dentist, and made her take a look at my babies. She agreed. They had to go.

Of the molars I have, including my wisdom tooth, all are bummed. Perhaps the most bummed of all were my two lower and upper molars on my left lower and upper jaw, including my left wisdom tooth.

So I went to her clinic last Wednesday, and waited for my first tooth extraction ever since I could ever remember. I never knew what to expect then. I have never really seen how a dentist would extract a molar, let alone two or three molars. I was already anticipating the pain that would follow.

So, to lift my spirits up, I was looking far far ahead. I was looking forward to having scoops of ice cream that I would be having once these teeth would be pulled out. I had a good visual of that melting ice cream already until the dentist started injecting my oral mucosa with anesthesia. I wanted to shout some cursing but my mouth was too preoccupied trying to give space to the dentist's merciless syringe loaded with anesthesia.

Julie Andrews could sing me her favourite things and still I wouldn't be thinking of any of those.

Seconds later, I felt my left side of the mouth started going numb. The anesthesia was working (thank God!) and now it was time for the dentist to do her own thing. She started manipulating the excavation already present in my other molar. I could not remember everything that happened except that I was already hearing drilling sounds, scarping sounds, and other sounds only associated with signs like "Caution: Men At Work".

Before she continued further, she told me her plans. She decided she would try saving the other molar that has the Philippine trench inside, pull out the upper molar and also the wisdom tooth behind the lower molar that was to be saved. I agreed to the plan so she started putting a temporary pasta on the cavity and started pulling out the other teeth. She had a hard time pulling out the wisdom tooth since it was as she said, only half-erupted.

So after more or less an hour of sitting on the dentist's chair, I was up walking towards the pharmacy with a cotton ball, a suture and a covered excavation in my mouth, not to mention that weird numbing sensation on my left lower lip and left side of the tongue.

I bought myself the medications I had to take and of course, the much awaited ice cream.