Wisdom tooth extraction procedure
Jan. 29th, 2002 07:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
volksdragonI've just GOT to post this. I'll (CUT) it here, so those of you squeamish won't catch anything that's make you retch. Read this only if you don't mind hearing my experiences having four of my teeth yanked out. :)
Well, I arrived early today for my 10am appointment with Dr. Kuo, who I met once at the consultation. It was a beautiful, I had the sunroof open all the way, and the Stereo cranking "The Big Hit" soundtrack, just to get myself into a mood not too reflective or somber. I get nervous when I get like that.
Stopped off, got coffee, got Cruller, ate and drank both on the way, arrived early. I checked in and asked if I could listen to my CD walkman during the procedure. They said sure, so I ran back out to get my CDs, and then sat for about TWO minutes, until they motioned me in to the "operating room" which was just a room with a dentist's chair, a BRIGHT light, and various implements hanging on the wall. You'll hear about those later.
So, the nice assistant handed me the consent form. Oh joy. I could be, possibly, the victim of nerve damage, extra surgical visits being necessary, other teeth being damaged, and 7 other wonderful non-optimal outcomes. Woohoo. While I'm perusing this, Doc Kuo steps in, says Hi, shakes my hand. I ask if there's anything else he wants to tell me before I sign this form, and he says, "Nope!" So I sign it. We're going in! Dive, Dive!
All the time I've been sitting in the chair, a few little butterflies have started fluttering in my stomach. Just little ones, those little yellow ones you see in the spring time.... yeah, those. So, he steps out to answer a phone call before the surgery, and the assistant steps out, and it's just ME. Well, me and my rapidly beating heart.
Yes, folks, I was getting nervous. I'd been waiting for this surgery with pretty neutral feelings, but you can probably guess my acceptance and readiness for the surgery due to the fact I chose LOCAL anesthetic and not to be knocked out. Heck no, I wanted to EXPERIENCE it, like my tattoo, like skydiving, like motorcycling. I had no choice but to get this surgery, but DAMN IT, it's MY experience, and I want all of it!
So, my heart's getting going, and I'm sitting there saying, "What the fuck? Dude, calm down." And then I realized, I've DONE scarier stuff than this, I've belayed backwards off a blind 80 foot cliff. I've ridden my motorcycle 130mph down the highway. I've SKYDIVED, WILLINGLY. I didn't freeze at the door. I yelled in triumph as I plunged 13,000 feet through the air. I realized this was NOTHING.
So, I did a few quick breathing exercises, and quieted myself down. And then the Doc returned, and we began.
First, the lidocaine on the gums to numb them, and then, a minute later, the NICE BIG novocaine needle to numb the rest of me. He put it in, and as usual, it didn't hurt. The doc was good, and those stupid needles don't usually bother me anyway. But, as I told him, I usually, for some reason, require more novocaine than the average person. But a few minutes later, right on schedule, I went numb. Yay.
So, he's getting ready, I'm lying back, headphones are on, and he tells me, "You're gonna feel a LOT of pressure, but you should feel NO pain. If you feel any pain, you tell me ASAP, and we'll fix you up." Like I said, the guy's good.
OK, we get started. He picks up what LOOKS like a regular cleaning pick, but the handle's thicker, and the head is shaped KIND of like a shovel head. Guess what he does with that? Yep, you got it, stuffs it in between my gum and the tooth, works it UNDER the edge of the top right wisdom tooth, and starts PRYING. Works it over a little, PRIES a little more. Not enough to move my head, but enough to feel him doing it easily. No pain, though, I'm amazed. And POP, the tooth comes right out. "First one done," he says. Elapsed time, 3 minutes? Woohoo!
Upper Left comes out just about as easily, and that's the one that had broken in my mouth previously. It requires a little bit MORE prying, but goes pretty much without resistance. Elapsed time 10 minutes.
And it's been EASY. No pain. No major problems. We're flying. I actually give the assistance the thumbs-up and giggle a bit when they ask if I'm OK. I can't say I'm not enjoying the experience in some way.
So, now it's time for the semi-exposed bottom ones. Where my top teeth had actually come out PAST my other teeth (in terms of height), the bottoms were at LEAST halfway hidden in my gums. He'd warned he might have to do some sawing, cutting of flesh, maybe even of my jaw. I was less enthused about these, but we can't stop in the middle!
So, he starts on the bottom right. Yeah, it's dug in pretty good. I feel a little pain, which surprises him, but he diligently and carefully shoots me with some more novocaine, and goes back to work. This one requires digging with a broader headed shovel-looking thing, and a tad of drilling so he can get a spot to grab. Finally, to persuade it out, he grabs the surgical pliers (no lie, they're stainless steel needle nose with a pretty small head on them) and grabs the tooth and PULLS it out. Ta da! Semi-impacted tooth #1 is out in 10 minutes flat.
I've just been lying there. Occasionally when he pulls, I'd feel myself tense up, and just say, to myself, "relax" and let my arms and shoulders droop. I had The Innocence Mission going on the CD player to keep me relaxed, and it was working pretty well. After each tooth, I'd shut it off, and ask (mumble, drool, slur) how things were going. He was all smiles, saying it was going well. So, back to my music. And on to the LAST TOOTH....
Of course, my mouth saved the best for last. He went to work with the standard shovel-head doohickey, and moved up to the bigger one. No dice. Didn't even twitch. He busts out with the pliers, and starts prying. PRYING enough that my HEAD is moving, all of it, from side to side, gently, but enough to get my attention. A little twinge of pain and some more novocaine later, he's back to prying, but no good. So, here comes mister drill, and I figure it's divide and conquer time. Split the tooth into sections, and then pull out each piece. Oh well, I had been hoping to come out of this with four intact teeth to save, but hey, what can a brother do?
So, he starts drilling into the center, and then cutting across the sides of the tooth, dividing it into quadrants, and then intending to remove it, but when he got it drilled to a good place, it started wiggling. He grabbed ye olde pliers, and with a lot of prying (and involuntary head wiggling), it came out! Well, almost all of it. He'd just put his pliers down and I'd gotten suctioned out, when he peered in and said, "Whoops. There's a piece left in there." Greeeeeat. So, out comes mister shovel-head and he started digging. Lemme tell you, someone digging against the base of your jaw with a metal instrument feels STRANGE, even if it doesn't hurt. I was having images of torturers doing this WITHOUT anesthesia, and wondering if ANYONE ever resisted that kind of torture.
So, finally, Mr. tooth piece comes out. Hooray! He proclaims us "Done!" and smiles. After stuffing gauze into my mouth, he motions for me to follow him out, and after gathering up my stuff, I do.
As we're standing at the front desk, waiting for me to pay up and for the nurse to give me the RIGHT prescriptions (she gave me double penicillin, and no vicodin the first time she tried :P ), he shakes me hand and says, "You were an excellent patient. No moaning, no moving, and you were even laughing." SCORE. I passed the test, I beat the experience. I WIN.
So, now it's 8 hours later. I went through a nice bleeding phase when the Novocaine wore off (blood vessels open, GOOSH) and it seems to have stopped again. Whee. No pain yet, and no pain medication in... six hours. I'm gonna take a vicodin with some yogurt just to be safe, but maybe tomorrow I'll see if I can do without.
That's it. Smurfchick, you can have a tooth for your necklace. I'll get one to you with my wife when she comes for Ani. :)
Game over. WINNER: Scirocco
Well, I arrived early today for my 10am appointment with Dr. Kuo, who I met once at the consultation. It was a beautiful, I had the sunroof open all the way, and the Stereo cranking "The Big Hit" soundtrack, just to get myself into a mood not too reflective or somber. I get nervous when I get like that.
Stopped off, got coffee, got Cruller, ate and drank both on the way, arrived early. I checked in and asked if I could listen to my CD walkman during the procedure. They said sure, so I ran back out to get my CDs, and then sat for about TWO minutes, until they motioned me in to the "operating room" which was just a room with a dentist's chair, a BRIGHT light, and various implements hanging on the wall. You'll hear about those later.
So, the nice assistant handed me the consent form. Oh joy. I could be, possibly, the victim of nerve damage, extra surgical visits being necessary, other teeth being damaged, and 7 other wonderful non-optimal outcomes. Woohoo. While I'm perusing this, Doc Kuo steps in, says Hi, shakes my hand. I ask if there's anything else he wants to tell me before I sign this form, and he says, "Nope!" So I sign it. We're going in! Dive, Dive!
All the time I've been sitting in the chair, a few little butterflies have started fluttering in my stomach. Just little ones, those little yellow ones you see in the spring time.... yeah, those. So, he steps out to answer a phone call before the surgery, and the assistant steps out, and it's just ME. Well, me and my rapidly beating heart.
Yes, folks, I was getting nervous. I'd been waiting for this surgery with pretty neutral feelings, but you can probably guess my acceptance and readiness for the surgery due to the fact I chose LOCAL anesthetic and not to be knocked out. Heck no, I wanted to EXPERIENCE it, like my tattoo, like skydiving, like motorcycling. I had no choice but to get this surgery, but DAMN IT, it's MY experience, and I want all of it!
So, my heart's getting going, and I'm sitting there saying, "What the fuck? Dude, calm down." And then I realized, I've DONE scarier stuff than this, I've belayed backwards off a blind 80 foot cliff. I've ridden my motorcycle 130mph down the highway. I've SKYDIVED, WILLINGLY. I didn't freeze at the door. I yelled in triumph as I plunged 13,000 feet through the air. I realized this was NOTHING.
So, I did a few quick breathing exercises, and quieted myself down. And then the Doc returned, and we began.
First, the lidocaine on the gums to numb them, and then, a minute later, the NICE BIG novocaine needle to numb the rest of me. He put it in, and as usual, it didn't hurt. The doc was good, and those stupid needles don't usually bother me anyway. But, as I told him, I usually, for some reason, require more novocaine than the average person. But a few minutes later, right on schedule, I went numb. Yay.
So, he's getting ready, I'm lying back, headphones are on, and he tells me, "You're gonna feel a LOT of pressure, but you should feel NO pain. If you feel any pain, you tell me ASAP, and we'll fix you up." Like I said, the guy's good.
OK, we get started. He picks up what LOOKS like a regular cleaning pick, but the handle's thicker, and the head is shaped KIND of like a shovel head. Guess what he does with that? Yep, you got it, stuffs it in between my gum and the tooth, works it UNDER the edge of the top right wisdom tooth, and starts PRYING. Works it over a little, PRIES a little more. Not enough to move my head, but enough to feel him doing it easily. No pain, though, I'm amazed. And POP, the tooth comes right out. "First one done," he says. Elapsed time, 3 minutes? Woohoo!
Upper Left comes out just about as easily, and that's the one that had broken in my mouth previously. It requires a little bit MORE prying, but goes pretty much without resistance. Elapsed time 10 minutes.
And it's been EASY. No pain. No major problems. We're flying. I actually give the assistance the thumbs-up and giggle a bit when they ask if I'm OK. I can't say I'm not enjoying the experience in some way.
So, now it's time for the semi-exposed bottom ones. Where my top teeth had actually come out PAST my other teeth (in terms of height), the bottoms were at LEAST halfway hidden in my gums. He'd warned he might have to do some sawing, cutting of flesh, maybe even of my jaw. I was less enthused about these, but we can't stop in the middle!
So, he starts on the bottom right. Yeah, it's dug in pretty good. I feel a little pain, which surprises him, but he diligently and carefully shoots me with some more novocaine, and goes back to work. This one requires digging with a broader headed shovel-looking thing, and a tad of drilling so he can get a spot to grab. Finally, to persuade it out, he grabs the surgical pliers (no lie, they're stainless steel needle nose with a pretty small head on them) and grabs the tooth and PULLS it out. Ta da! Semi-impacted tooth #1 is out in 10 minutes flat.
I've just been lying there. Occasionally when he pulls, I'd feel myself tense up, and just say, to myself, "relax" and let my arms and shoulders droop. I had The Innocence Mission going on the CD player to keep me relaxed, and it was working pretty well. After each tooth, I'd shut it off, and ask (mumble, drool, slur) how things were going. He was all smiles, saying it was going well. So, back to my music. And on to the LAST TOOTH....
Of course, my mouth saved the best for last. He went to work with the standard shovel-head doohickey, and moved up to the bigger one. No dice. Didn't even twitch. He busts out with the pliers, and starts prying. PRYING enough that my HEAD is moving, all of it, from side to side, gently, but enough to get my attention. A little twinge of pain and some more novocaine later, he's back to prying, but no good. So, here comes mister drill, and I figure it's divide and conquer time. Split the tooth into sections, and then pull out each piece. Oh well, I had been hoping to come out of this with four intact teeth to save, but hey, what can a brother do?
So, he starts drilling into the center, and then cutting across the sides of the tooth, dividing it into quadrants, and then intending to remove it, but when he got it drilled to a good place, it started wiggling. He grabbed ye olde pliers, and with a lot of prying (and involuntary head wiggling), it came out! Well, almost all of it. He'd just put his pliers down and I'd gotten suctioned out, when he peered in and said, "Whoops. There's a piece left in there." Greeeeeat. So, out comes mister shovel-head and he started digging. Lemme tell you, someone digging against the base of your jaw with a metal instrument feels STRANGE, even if it doesn't hurt. I was having images of torturers doing this WITHOUT anesthesia, and wondering if ANYONE ever resisted that kind of torture.
So, finally, Mr. tooth piece comes out. Hooray! He proclaims us "Done!" and smiles. After stuffing gauze into my mouth, he motions for me to follow him out, and after gathering up my stuff, I do.
As we're standing at the front desk, waiting for me to pay up and for the nurse to give me the RIGHT prescriptions (she gave me double penicillin, and no vicodin the first time she tried :P ), he shakes me hand and says, "You were an excellent patient. No moaning, no moving, and you were even laughing." SCORE. I passed the test, I beat the experience. I WIN.
So, now it's 8 hours later. I went through a nice bleeding phase when the Novocaine wore off (blood vessels open, GOOSH) and it seems to have stopped again. Whee. No pain yet, and no pain medication in... six hours. I'm gonna take a vicodin with some yogurt just to be safe, but maybe tomorrow I'll see if I can do without.
That's it. Smurfchick, you can have a tooth for your necklace. I'll get one to you with my wife when she comes for Ani. :)
Game over. WINNER: Scirocco
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2002-01-29 04:59 pm (UTC)Your experience ROCKED! And YOU rock, for giving me a tooth!
Oh my god, I am flying! YAY! That is so awesome. (Says one thrill/pain junkie to another)
no subject
Date: 2002-01-29 06:10 pm (UTC)Oh man, I'm a wimp. I *really* don't want to have my wisdom teeth out.
no subject
Date: 2002-01-30 08:02 am (UTC)You rock, dude.