The next decade....what's in store?

It was traumatic....

I considered not going, even up to the last minute. But I am strong, I thought, so why should a pair of forceps frighten me?

Hah!

Got there and there were a few (two) patients waiting ahead of me. I told the ladies I would come back. They advised me not to leave because the dentist might call me anytime. I was trying to get them to let me go for 20 minutes, and then I mightn't have come back. But I listened to them. Good thing I did because the dentist called me soon after.

After chit chatting about Jamaica's disastrous performance in the Stanford 20/20 final last night, he aimed the needle at my gum. I gurgled, like a puppy getting its first shots. The dentist was laughing so hard, he had to stop. One injection down, he aimed again. Same reaction from me....same reaction from him. He then said he has had patients make sounds before but mine was the strangest.

I had asked him to tell me how long it would take to yank the tooth out. He said in about the same time as it takes for one of Jerome Taylor's balls to reach the batsman. Oh! Real quick. Goody.

He did a pain check. Everything was in order. The knock-out medicine was good. Then came the forceps. With his first hold of the tooth, I heard the sensation of the tooth being ripped from its roots. Mind you, I could FEEL nothing. But the mind is a helluva thing and so I envisioned what was happening and assumed what I should be feeling.

He stopped for a bit, and I took the opportunity to reach for the assistant's hand. As he yanked, I squeezed. I don't know how I didnt break her fingers.

In quick time, it was out, the gauze was in, and the worst was over. But I felt like a part of me had been ripped out. It's psychological. You see, I always get compliments about my smile and teeth. Now my crowning glory has been altered.

I immediately asked him about stopping up the gap. A denture is an option, and so are implants. Maybe I will go for the latter. Some how, I don't think the cutting of the gum to put the implant will be as traumatic as the yanking. Again it's mental. I will know that it will be restoring my glorious smile, and so that will make everything feel better....I hope!

Oh, I asked him for the tooth. He told me that the Tooth Fairy stopped working long, at my age! It's now in a bottle being bleached. Then I will keep it as a memento of the day when I became Baby Toothless.

Posted by yamfoot at February 25, 2008 06:10 PM