To Pull or Not to Pull
This isn't going to be news to anyone who is friends with me on Facebook, but might provide a little more information.
Last Tuesday I had my first dentist's appointment in nearly 5+ years. The good news was that I still have not developed any cavities or gum disease, so my teeth are in pretty good shape. Yay! The slightly bad news was that my dentist highly recommends I have my wisdom teeth removed because only 1 has broken through the gumline. He referred to the bottom two as "impacted" and I really should have looked at my x-ray myself, but I didn't. Instead I nodded, asked how much time I had (he said I could wait years, but he wanted to do it while I was young so I'd heal faster) and then asked a bit about the procedure. He readily referred me to an oral surgeon when I said I wanted to be asleep for the operation. Although my dentist is a general dentist, he told me he's been performing wisdom teeth extractions since he was in med school in 1989. However, his office is not equipped to do IV-sleep induced anesthesia. Instead, he'll give me a pill an hour before the "surgery" (I hate calling it that) and it'll make me extremely drowsy -- he said so much so that some of his patients have fallen asleep. Once I'm good and "not caring", he'll numb my gums and the areas he needs to work in and get down to business.
Saving you paragraphs of reading, I called him back on Tuesday and asked a whole slew of questions because I do like this dentist and his staff, so I didn't want to up and go to an oral surgeon. Especially since there is a risk of being put under and if it's not necessary, what's the point? Of course, I say that easily now, but pain is a big fear of mine.
After flip-flopping on a decision and asking the opinions of others all week, I still have not made a decision. I do value the advice and opinions of my friends and family, but as my dad told me, this has to be my decision for my reasons in the end. So, I called my dentist's office today and left a message since they aren't open. I asked him if he would be kind enough to meet with me next week and show me my x-rays so I can ask all the questions I feel I need to ask to know if this operation is right. He said my wisdom teeth had the possibility of causing me problems later, but gave me no specific percentages on that. I think I just need to see the x-rays myself and talk to him to figure everything out. He said he did extractions for years, but my teeth are impacted, meaning he'd have to cut into my gums and then extract them. So... not being put under for the procedure does kind of scare me. At this point in time, I don't know what the best answer is. I either decide not to do it, or to do it. If I do it, am I really saving myself the pain of something that might never need to happen? If I don't do it, what if I end up screwing myself in the long run and down the line it's a lot harder to get them out? Then there's sedation. Would it be better to be completely out or drowsy/sedated? It's a lot to think about. I know it is a bit silly since this is literally a procedure that is done nearly every day and is almost a rite of passage in America.
The hardest part of this decision is that it's my first "health" one since being an adult. I asked my parents advice, but both of them told me I'm a grown up and it's time to make these big decisions myself. Which is true, but scary. I just hope that I'm not fucking anything up.
Last Tuesday I had my first dentist's appointment in nearly 5+ years. The good news was that I still have not developed any cavities or gum disease, so my teeth are in pretty good shape. Yay! The slightly bad news was that my dentist highly recommends I have my wisdom teeth removed because only 1 has broken through the gumline. He referred to the bottom two as "impacted" and I really should have looked at my x-ray myself, but I didn't. Instead I nodded, asked how much time I had (he said I could wait years, but he wanted to do it while I was young so I'd heal faster) and then asked a bit about the procedure. He readily referred me to an oral surgeon when I said I wanted to be asleep for the operation. Although my dentist is a general dentist, he told me he's been performing wisdom teeth extractions since he was in med school in 1989. However, his office is not equipped to do IV-sleep induced anesthesia. Instead, he'll give me a pill an hour before the "surgery" (I hate calling it that) and it'll make me extremely drowsy -- he said so much so that some of his patients have fallen asleep. Once I'm good and "not caring", he'll numb my gums and the areas he needs to work in and get down to business.
Saving you paragraphs of reading, I called him back on Tuesday and asked a whole slew of questions because I do like this dentist and his staff, so I didn't want to up and go to an oral surgeon. Especially since there is a risk of being put under and if it's not necessary, what's the point? Of course, I say that easily now, but pain is a big fear of mine.
After flip-flopping on a decision and asking the opinions of others all week, I still have not made a decision. I do value the advice and opinions of my friends and family, but as my dad told me, this has to be my decision for my reasons in the end. So, I called my dentist's office today and left a message since they aren't open. I asked him if he would be kind enough to meet with me next week and show me my x-rays so I can ask all the questions I feel I need to ask to know if this operation is right. He said my wisdom teeth had the possibility of causing me problems later, but gave me no specific percentages on that. I think I just need to see the x-rays myself and talk to him to figure everything out. He said he did extractions for years, but my teeth are impacted, meaning he'd have to cut into my gums and then extract them. So... not being put under for the procedure does kind of scare me. At this point in time, I don't know what the best answer is. I either decide not to do it, or to do it. If I do it, am I really saving myself the pain of something that might never need to happen? If I don't do it, what if I end up screwing myself in the long run and down the line it's a lot harder to get them out? Then there's sedation. Would it be better to be completely out or drowsy/sedated? It's a lot to think about. I know it is a bit silly since this is literally a procedure that is done nearly every day and is almost a rite of passage in America.
The hardest part of this decision is that it's my first "health" one since being an adult. I asked my parents advice, but both of them told me I'm a grown up and it's time to make these big decisions myself. Which is true, but scary. I just hope that I'm not fucking anything up.