Recovering from tooth extraction
Worked from home today, not exactly at 100% as I was dealing with the after effects of my #16 wisdom tooth extraction.
My wisdom tooth had to go. It had some bad cavities and, yes, the dentist could have put in fillings but the tooth has no real function. Its mate had been taken out back in the 1990's when I lived in Kansas.
So yesterday afternoon at four was the appointed time. First the topical (goop they spread on the inside of the mouth to lessen the pain), then the shot (ow!), then five minutes later something the Dentist called "The Wand."
Supposedly better than the various numbing agents of the past, the administration of it was a terrible experience and the after affects long lasting. I have to believe, though, that it made the actual extraction go very well as there was absolutely no pain from losing the tooth!
Still, the wand was not fun. The dentist approaches my upper pallet wielding this skinny rod with a tip of what looked like dried ice. It was very cold. And as he held it there my entire upper pallet felt like it was pulling in. It was hard to take. The pain was so bad my eyes were watering up and it took me five minutes to calm down. Two dental assistants were there to hold me down. I tried to not react but it was excruciating.
The only thing painful from there was how much the dentist had to pull open my mouth to get back to the wisdom tooth, the last tooth on my left upper jaw. He had to ease the tooth out in several stages before it was completely lose.
I asked the dental assistant to bag up the tooth so I could keep it.
For about 15 minutes after that they put gauze pads in my mouth to sop up the blood, all the while telling me about how to treat the wound site so that it will heal.
Driving home was not too bad but was glad to trudge through the door and sit down, occasionally spitting out the last bloody pad and inserting a new wet one. We scavenged some Ibuprofen at home for the pain which would eventually come (the dentist started me with one before we even began the proceeding: 500 milligrams in a very large pill). Didn't have anything but some lemon-lime soda before hitting the sack.
Overnight I had to wake just once to swap gauze pads, then in the morning decided to work from home and do some more swaps. By noon it seemed there was no more bleeding and felt that the pad insertions might actually disturb the wound site, so stopped using them.
Good, because I really needed to eat something. I had a little yogurt.
By this time the Ibuprofen was not keeping pace with the massive headache I had but the tightening caused the wand was beginning to go away. I was not able to focus on some perplexing program code problems and stopped trying by 4 p.m., turned off my work computer and went to bed.
My nap ended around 7:30 p.m., the headache was half-gone and there was still tightening in my mouth, but less. I was feeling well enough to eat creamy peanut butter out of the jar...and applesauce from a bowl.
Some more sleep and a shower tomorrow and things should be much better.
My wisdom tooth had to go. It had some bad cavities and, yes, the dentist could have put in fillings but the tooth has no real function. Its mate had been taken out back in the 1990's when I lived in Kansas.
So yesterday afternoon at four was the appointed time. First the topical (goop they spread on the inside of the mouth to lessen the pain), then the shot (ow!), then five minutes later something the Dentist called "The Wand."
Supposedly better than the various numbing agents of the past, the administration of it was a terrible experience and the after affects long lasting. I have to believe, though, that it made the actual extraction go very well as there was absolutely no pain from losing the tooth!
Still, the wand was not fun. The dentist approaches my upper pallet wielding this skinny rod with a tip of what looked like dried ice. It was very cold. And as he held it there my entire upper pallet felt like it was pulling in. It was hard to take. The pain was so bad my eyes were watering up and it took me five minutes to calm down. Two dental assistants were there to hold me down. I tried to not react but it was excruciating.
The only thing painful from there was how much the dentist had to pull open my mouth to get back to the wisdom tooth, the last tooth on my left upper jaw. He had to ease the tooth out in several stages before it was completely lose.
I asked the dental assistant to bag up the tooth so I could keep it.
For about 15 minutes after that they put gauze pads in my mouth to sop up the blood, all the while telling me about how to treat the wound site so that it will heal.
Driving home was not too bad but was glad to trudge through the door and sit down, occasionally spitting out the last bloody pad and inserting a new wet one. We scavenged some Ibuprofen at home for the pain which would eventually come (the dentist started me with one before we even began the proceeding: 500 milligrams in a very large pill). Didn't have anything but some lemon-lime soda before hitting the sack.
Overnight I had to wake just once to swap gauze pads, then in the morning decided to work from home and do some more swaps. By noon it seemed there was no more bleeding and felt that the pad insertions might actually disturb the wound site, so stopped using them.
Good, because I really needed to eat something. I had a little yogurt.
By this time the Ibuprofen was not keeping pace with the massive headache I had but the tightening caused the wand was beginning to go away. I was not able to focus on some perplexing program code problems and stopped trying by 4 p.m., turned off my work computer and went to bed.
My nap ended around 7:30 p.m., the headache was half-gone and there was still tightening in my mouth, but less. I was feeling well enough to eat creamy peanut butter out of the jar...and applesauce from a bowl.
Some more sleep and a shower tomorrow and things should be much better.