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The lights were bright! I sat mortified fearing the worst. I saw his masked face with an apologetic glint in his eyes as he came at me with a knife and a drill! I felt panicky and numb as the injections had begun taking effect. The lights were blinding me. His voice asked me to relax. How could I? Over his shoulder, I saw my husband peeking, his face breaking into a comforting smile. With a sigh, I settled back and closed my eyes while he got to work. Yes, my dentist began a long process of wisdom tooth removal. Since mine hadn’t completely erupted and was in a supine posture, the surgery was going to involve cutting the bone to extract the tooth. Add to it, I had to get a root canal treatment done for the adjacent tooth which had begun rotting! Oh the misery!
What is it about the dentist that scares the hell out of us and reduces even the bravest of folks to trembling teens. Is it because they come at you with sickening WMDs that they intend to shove into your mouth? Or because these scary weapons are put in your mouth and you hear every terrible grating sound in its glory or because you can taste your own blood? In your mind you know that beyond the anesthesia lies pain and days of cold, insipid food. You await that with apprehension.
The doc seems so relaxed! When he says, it is not going to hurt, he clearly has no effing idea. Sometimes I wish that it be made mandatory for all dentists to first get their wisdom teeth removed. At least their empathy will then seem genuine :)! When you walk out, it all seems fine. Okay that wasn’t so bad, and it ain’t paining either. But the pain hits you a couple of hours later when the anesthesia has worn off despite medication. The swelling is intense even with cold packs. And it gives a grotesque look to the face as if a couple of paans have been stuffed in permanently to one side. You have to explain to everyone that you have not been hit on the cheek. And the talking less bit thrills the hubby to bits :). Yes thankfully, it does get better as you get back to chewing normally and eating decent food.
In the bargain, I am now much more conscious of my oral hygiene but that was never the cause of wisdom tooth removal anyway. I have been advised to get the other wisdom tooth that is supine removed as well before it starts rotting its adjacent tooth. To tell you frankly, I am trying to summon my nerves to go through another nightmare like the previous one! Sigh! It is a decision I’ve to take sooner than later! For all those who have to go to a dentist, my empathy and sincere wishes. For my dentist friends, nothing personal in the dislike of your kin :). And despite all my wisdom almost taken out, it still makes sense to go and get that dental problem resolved. It won’t get better on its own, trust me!
The dental work is scary even for brave hearts:)
Oh yes, I concur :).
I hear you ! My dentist is the nicest guy imaginable and yet I tremble when I have to go to him. I think its because we can see all those shiny knives and other instruments. And I absolutely hate the sound of that drill !!
And like you I am very very careful about oral hygiene now !
I have started hating that dentist’s clinic now. And to think I have to go back there again soon gives me the creeps.
Ohh that must have been painful and scary! But yes it makes sense to sort the dental problem before it gets worse. Better be safe than sorry, right!
Take care Rachna 🙂
Thank you Deeps! It was real scary.
Wisdom tooth is a misnomer. It gives nightmares to most of the people!
Stupid thing. Why couldn’t it fall off on its own?
Sorry about the loss of your wisdom..err…tooth, Rachna! I love your suggestion about ways to make dentists more empathetic! 😛
I hope my dentist friends don’t take it in a bad way :).
Those drills and machines going off in your mouth! And to think that you are actually going to pay through your nose for allowing someone to totally invade your mouth!!
Yes, let them first have their wisdom dumped. We’ll see then.
Pure misery I tell you, Dagny! Yep, the follow ups are a pain too. The suture removal part is another pain. Yes, let’s all go after them and their wisdom :).
Don’t remind of those drills, the taste of blood and the injections…ouch, it’s already hurting.
Take care! 🙂
Ouch :).
Yeah,, it must be hurting a lot.. Mine has yet to be removed but still I can understand the pain you might be going through.. Somehow I will surely tell my dentist friend to read your post.. Atleast she should know how bad it hurts.. !!
Oh I got mine done over a month ago. I just shared it now. I have some wonderful dentist friends. It’s really not their fault now!
I know, Rachna. Tooth problems are nightmares and those dentists with those scary weapons are surely demons! I too have been delaying a check-up… will be there soon 🙂
Wish you luck :).
Is this a season of wisdom tooth extraction? First my mother had it, then Roshni blogged about hers, and today morning I read RGB got her wisdom removed. And now you. Two teeth removal stories in one day is too much to handle! Dentists give me the jitters. I really, really hope you are alright now. I saw my mother go through a lot of pain after she got hers extracted.
I had mine done over a month ago. Just wrote about it now. I am perfectly fine now :). And gathering courage to go for the next round.
This is a second frightening post am reading about wisdom tooth !
I have yet to take an appointment.first roshni andn ow You !
am dead scared now…. More over mine is struck in bon eor something..Doc himself scared the hell out of me :'(
booo hOoooo
Oops it is going to hurt. It is better to know in advance,na! And I actually got mine done more than a month ago. Just wrote about it now.
and urs also was stuck in bone naaa…… hmmm I will take a long breath and be bold wen I go 🙁
and its stuck not struck
Good luck!
Sigh. I have two root canals and one extraction pending :(. I hate hate hate dentists..really!!!!!!!!!!
My deepest empathy. Get it over with soon.
Oh! That sounds scary and miserable too. Have no experience with dentists whatsoever. But guess, dental visits are inevitable… they do happen sooner or later! You take care! 🙂
Before this foray, I had a spotless oral record. Had been to a dentist only once before. Who can say when disaster strikes :).
Hmm! The one problem with pain in the dental area is that it is so damn incessant. Thank God I never developed wisdom 🙂
Yes, we cannot immobilize the area and that is its bane. And my wisdom is all pulled out now :).
Hahaha…love to see your husband’s victorious smile 😉
:).
Lol…Hope you are feeling better. I am completely comfortable with dentists. 🙂 But, I can relate to you in the removal process. Mine was also similar to yours. They had to cut the bone and then remove it. It was a huge process as I was just expecting back then and above all, it cost me a fortune 🙁 A hugeee hole to my pocket..Despite having insurance.
I am doing great, Latha! Had it done more than a month back. Here, you have to put through your pocket. Dental work is not covered by insurance. Luckily, it is not as expensive as it is in the US!
Hmmm…and now I feel like canceling my dentist’s appointment which I took after delaying it for a year. 🙁
Arre nahin baba, go ahead! You might just exacerbate the problem if there is any.
That’s exactly why I got all 4 removed at once! I didn’t want to go through that torture again!!
Hope you’re better now!
I seriously don’t know how you did that, Roshni! What part of your body were you using to chew? 😉
Hope all is well know. I’ve been to the dentist only once in my life till now. But this post was quite intimidating!
Take care.
Joy always,
Susan
All is well, Susan! I had the surgery more than a month back :). Me too. The first time when I had to visit a dentist.
Sheesh, typo. *now* and not *know*
Dental work is amazingly scary. I always remind me of a poem we had in 9th where the dentist was compared to a cement and mortar worker complete with drill and mixing machine. So when is the next one due?
Let’s see. Have to schedule it.
Aha,now I know as to why do at times I dont write normal stuff.
I lost my wisdom tooth to the dentist.Rachna,it was seriously painfull
Looks like all mine is getting pulled out too :).
Arrgh. Fate worse than death. My dentist decided to leave my wisdom teeth be. And yes, I had to have a root canal in the neighbor 😀 Big hugs to you. What a relief. I am going through the saga of dental stuff myself….and ah well. I have handsome doctors with a sense of humor. Nothing can replace the pain and the jokes at my expense. 😀
Love to see all the smileys despite all the pain endured, Vidya :).
Frankly speaking .. I have never felt so scared reading ghastly stories .. as I kept reading I could feel it around my gums and teeth 😀
Although some dental issues have no other solution than this .. I have always fought and won against all odd problems including cavities.. thanks to the Neem Stem which we bhaiya jis call Daatun 😀
My grandfather always suggested that and I was like yuks so very bhaiya 😀 .. but since I started using it .. i know it makes all the difference .. lot better than those costly .. Toothpastes .. and MouthWashes .. although after the daatun brushing .. I do use any any toothpaste .. but i am not more toothpaste or mouthwash conscious .. thanks to following .. the old tradition 🙂
See I can write horror stories of the real kind as well :).Idhar daatun nahin milta na. And yes, I can vouch for dadima’s nuskhe being quite effective. But pata hain, the problem I had was because of supine wisdom teeth that no external routine can help. These stupid teeth are no longer needed and evolution should have done away with them! Now my oral routine is bordering on paranoid :). Every damn thing that can prevent damage is welcome :).
🙂 we should soon see .. Baba Ramdev .. selling Patanjali Datun 😀 .. only then who purey India mei available hoga .. but it seems wo apne toothpaste bech ke hi .. accha kama le rahe hain ..
Haan Datuns and Sattu are not available in southern part and very rare even in Mumbai .. I have stayed in almost all cities of India (not Chennai) and it is a problem managing some desi dawayi .. in south 🙂
Well.. I pray .. you overcome the nightmare soon 🙂 and with minimal pain.
Thank you! Abhi toh theek hain. But I am not so happy that I have to go back again especially since I am not even having any symptoms.
Take care dear, I hate visiting doctors. And for me a visit to a dentist is way better than a visit to a cardio, ortho, or gynac.
Yes, it is better than visiting the other types of doc. But the surgery is so painful.
Dentists just hate us being wise dont they? I have been adviced to remove all four of my wisdom teeth (Oh yeah, I am THAT WISE 😀 ) and I have not had the guts so far. I hate dentists, I really do. Whenever I am with them, I feel like I am a captured prisoner on an interrogation table!!
I think it is a huge scam to earn money on their part. Unless you are suffering some problem in all 4 teeth, there is no real reason to do so I feel. I can understand your position, Jaish!
Well in 2008 i got to know that I had 33 teeth (yes, it is correct), a small one apparently on top of the last wisdom tooth.
I started to get pain and the doctor declared that I had to be operated. I got all my 4 wisdom tooth removed and sat two weeks at home. and now I am without wisdom. 😀
Oh my God! All 4, that must have been so terrible. And you still are so wise ;-).
indeed, i could not open my mouth. Had to keep that frozen packs all the time on my cheeks. It was irritating…
Irritating is an understatement :).
Strangely, I have a very good rapport with my Dentist. It helps that I visit her once in ten years 😀
Now that is the best kind of rapport! Keep them as far away as possible :).
You expressed my sentiments. Even I still have the tooth on the other side. Dread to think of removing it.
I don’t think I am doing it till some problem crops up. It makes no sense to remove something that seems healthy.
Ouuch!! That sounds painful. How are you today? Yesterday only another fren of mine was talking about her dental ailments!!! When I listen to these painful realities I thank God that it hasn’t happened with me and wish that it doesnt happen in future also.
Take care!
I am good now, Smita! Happy for you. Wouldn’t wish this on anyone.
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I lost 3 teeth around the years. Now the teeth above are coming down in that area. I was not asked to fix the gap with artificial teeth then. Now because of the upper teeth landing in the gaps, my teeth in the front are pressing each other…lower ones are pushing out the upper teeth. They have started looking projected now!….hmm…I can understand your pain…take care, Rachna!
Oh Gosh! What a pain! I wonder if that will happen with my upper teeth too.
Ouch that hurt !! ( The universal hatered for dentists I mean :p)
Like your humor, Sharmila! Due apologies to lovelies like you and Kavita! But really, we all are scared shit of dentists :).
Dentists are devils on earth. I have never had one trip to them when they haven’t told me, after poking and examining my teeth – I have good news and I have bad news. Followed by divulging two equalhorrific pieces of news!
I meant – two equally horrific pieces of news.
For me till now, I avoided them like plague. Going to one in all my life and the general state of my teeth seemed good till pain struck in one. Now I am working on my conspiracy theory that the extraction wasn’t really needed but the root canal was. They are making money by asking people to undergo unnecessary wisdom teeth removal.
Great post! And I simply couldn’t leave without commenting!
Being a dentist and having to read all that buzz on the negative of dentists!!
It’s not an easy job but someone has to do it!
And yeah, sorry we have to put all you in some pain but frankly that’s what helps you to get out of the pain that you’re already having 🙂
And get the teeth checked up once in a while… it should help getting out of pain most of the time 🙂
Hi Danny, Thank you so much for leaving a comment. As much as I want to point my anger at dentists, like you pointed out they are just doing their jobs. This was written in a lighter vein. I have some good dentist friends. Thanks for the advice. Twice a year dental checkups it is from now on :).
Thankfully, I have never visited the dentist. 🙂
I think it is the horror stories that scare all of us. People have come and told me how their wrong tooth was removed. It is like those ghost stories. Once you have heard them, you try to find ghosts in every spooky situation. 🙂
hehe I had that on my mind when I went on extraction. Luckily it is the last tooth so less chances of mistaking in extracting the wrong one :).
congrats Rachna. Loved your post as I too hate a visit to the dentist and am scared of the ordeal.
Thanks so much Kalpana! Ouch, hope your visit is better :).
Love your blog Rachna
Going to subcribe and share
Keep UP