No longer a complete person! - part 2

(Warning - a gory photograph is embedded in this post.  Not for the faint-hearted!)

 On Thursday morning, the tooth still felt fine.  But as the day progress.  The discomfort returned and pain soon intensified.  I was left with little choice but to call the dentistry where I frequent, and where my ex-secondary school classmate - Angela - works.  I knew that I probably could not get an appointment immediately, and any delay in my calling would only mean a further delay to get my problem eradicated.

After describing to the assistant / receptionist, I was told that there were no empty slots that day, nor were there any the next few days.  She told me to leave my name and number so that she could call me if any patient decided to pull out of an arranged appointment.  I kept my fingers crossed.  How much longer did I had to bear with the pain?

My prayers were answered at about 11,30am the next day.  A dental assistant called to inform me that a slot opened up for 12.30pm, and asked if I could take up the slot.  Of course!  I had just finished an online seminar by the company and had planned to take Felix for a haircut and lunch in Clementi,  So I decided to bring the boy along, let him have lunch as I went to the dentist.

I was quite sure that I would not be able to eat after my dental visit, nor did I want the dentist to be greeted to smell of my lunch and guess what I had taken.  I was not sure if I could eat for dinner too.  So I decided to take a last drink as Felix ate.

I had a Zoom-meeting with a client at 3pm.  I was not sure when the visit to the dentist would end, so I decided instead fr Felix to have his haircut while I was visiting the dentist.  That would save us a little travel-time.  I was reluctant actually, for the last time I had brought the boy for a haircut there, it cost us fifteen dollars.  I thought it was a tad high when I could possible get one for him for as little as five dollars.

I waited a short while before seeing the dentist, Dr Chua.  The gentlemen listened intently to my narration and decided that he wanted an x-ray before he could diagnose the problem.  The x-ray showed that the wisdom tooth that side (which was growing towards the top of my teeth from the top-left side of my mouth) had grown out a little further and was in contact with the tooth that was giving me pain.  And he sat me down to give me four options.

The first was to do nothing (that was not a choice since I had decided to address the pain and ready for an extraction).  The second was to give me medication and hope to control the pain (that might or might not work).  I cannot remember what the third option was (it was not something that I would go for).  The fourth was to extract the molar that caused the pain - a simple option that would resolve the pain.  The last option was to have surgery to remove both the molar and the wisdom tooth.  It would involve cutting the gum to remove the wisdom tooth, and sewing the gum back later.

I asked if I could still speak at 3pm as I had an online meeting.  Dr Chua replied that I could most probably have bleeding stopped by then if I took option four, which I was inclined to too.  And I was set.  Anaesthestic was injected into my gum (ouch!) and in what was a less-than-five-minute simple procedure, the offending tooth was extracted.

The infection / decay shook me.  All my years of lack of proper oral hygiene had been hidden from sight, but had been waiting time-bombs.  The first has exploded.

The monetary damage was not great.  But it remains to be seen what physiological damage it would cost.

For all my friends who are reading this - please start / maintain good dental health!  Hope it is not too late for you!

For me, I am not sure what is next to wear-out / give-way.  Sigh...