It's All About Teeth, Teeth, Teeth

[xifeng]

I went to the dentist today. Due to first a long spell of no insurance, and then a spell of bad insurance that did not cover a dental visit (and the fact that when you have to work shitty retail due to the economy, $80 out of pocket is like a ten-hour shift at your shitty job), I hadn't been in a couple of years.

The good news is that I only have two cavities (...for the first time EVAR) and need fillings.


The bad news is that both wisdom teeth on the left side of my mouth are on their last legs. The top one broke in 2009 and has proceeded to decay gently since then because, despite my generally good dental hygiene and I am not just bragging, the hygienist said it too, most people have difficulty reaching that far back in their mouths even with a toothbrush and I am no exception. The bottom one is apparently completely hollow and could break at any time.

On the one hand, I really don't want my real teeth catching the decay and moldering away too, which is one of the dangers if they sit too long next to the tainted wisdom teeth. I am not a goddamn Tri-State cracker and I refuse to have teeth like one.

On the other hand, I am irrationally attached to my wisdom teeth because they're mine. MIIIIIIIINE. MY TEETH. Also, when I fulfill my evolutionary duty by dispatching my old, weak father with a bite to the jugular, my toothy maw and the jagged edge of the upper wisdom tooth will ensure that the wound becomes infected in the event I am unable to sever the vein completely. Also also, I really do not want my wisdom teeth removed. The only reason I am even willing to entertain this shit is because the potential consequences of not having them out are even worse.

So, because I cope with things that scare the piss out of me by becoming progressively more autocratic and control-freaky, four things I will not budge on.
1.) Only the teeth that are actually decayed are to be removed. The good wisdom teeth, on the right side of my mouth, are to remain in situ until or unless it becomes necessary to remove them. They do not appear to show signs of decay.
2.) General anaesthesia is not to be used. Why? Because, first off, I am the goddamn patient and I said it was not to be used or I will take my sweet, sweet teeth money elsewhere to someone who will only use local anaesthesia, since the technology for that exists and is in widespread use and I don't care how safe you tell me that general shit is. Second, and probably more likely to convince an oral surgeon, I've checked my insurance and they will not pay for it unless it is medically necessary.
3.) The only person qualified to decide whether I am in pain, how much pain I am in, and what should be done about it is me. In other words, you can write me a prescription for painkillers if it assuages your conscience, Dr Oral Surgeon, but it's not like I'm going to fill it or anything because I'm going to have to be in some serious agony before I'll even think about maybe using the over-the-counter shit. I am ALLOWED to make snide remarks about real men toughing it out because I DO tough it out.

Also, I am not happy about the antibiotics but I will allow those because infected sutures are not relevant to my interests.
4.) I want to keep my teeth. Even if they can't stay in my skull, I want to keep them. I'll turn them into jewelry or something awesome someday. :D


Also! I swung by Panera tonight and ran into Joy, whom I haven't seen in yonks, so we had a grand old time catching up and yapping. That was quite nice.

Moar to follow.

Comments

[forgottensanity.livejournal.com]

Having wisdom teeth pulled is the worst. It hurt so much, during as well as afterwards.

Does "general anaesthesia" mean that you're out cold? I've never heard of that practice in Denmark regarding teeth, unless it's a really serious problem. Usually our dentists just use local painkillers. Which did not stop it hurting like crap, even after two injections.

Okay, I'm probably not making the situation any better. However, I do think it's a good idea to remove teeth that are so severely damaged, whether going to the dentist is a phobia or not.

I have one I might still need to get removed, but it hasn't really bothered me yet so I'm ignoring it at the moment.

I hope it goes ... as well as can be expected. That the outcome will be fine.

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

I hear it's not fun. I am not enthused about this.

That's what "general anaesthesia" means in the US, yes. It's pretty common here, but a lot of oral surgeons will also use local anaesthesia, so hopefully I can find one who does. (I am not looking forward to the local painkiller when I get the fillings done next month. It may still hurt like crap.)

I'm not phobic about going to the dentist (dentists and oral surgeons aren't interchangeable here). I've never had surgery and the idea that someone is going to SLICE INTO MY SKULL and REMOVE MY TEETH is just really horrifying to me, even though the teeth probably need to come out. It's irrational, but it feels like a violation to me.

I hope to not die. Or kill anyone else.

[hatefulsandwich.livejournal.com]

Teeth FREAK ME OUT. I have nightmares about teeth falling out, flapping in the wind, regrowing, being loose... This entry just freaks me out. I could never have my wisdoms removed while conscious (And I didn't, for that matter).

Your experience with dying wisdom teeth makes my teeth scream in horror. Seriously.

Just out of curiosity, why are you so phobic of medicine? I mean the anaesthetic and pain killers and antibiotics...

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

OH GOD, I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN. I won't tell you the horror story from my childhood because you may never sleep again, but I have similar recurrent nightmares that I think are partially related. I don't need to be 100% conscious and fully engaged, but I do need to not be put under. I'm afraid of dying under that shit, which, though it's fairly rare, is a risk you run any time someone is out cold.

I'm actually not phobic about medicine at all; part of this is that I've never had any kind of surgery and I have no frame of reference. Part of it is that I don't believe in the use of painkillers (for myself, other people can do what they want with their bodies and that's not my business) and won't even take aspirin for a headache; I won't take anything unless I'm in so much agony that I can't function. I just find it really condescending and insulting that other people assume they know better than I do whether I am in pain, how much pain I am in, and what needs to be done about it, rather than allowing me to make those decisions and manage it in a way that is comfortable and permissible for me.

I am more sanguine about the antibiotics because I don't want an infection, but they dick with my birth control and that is Not Okay. Not that it's an issue right now, or if I'm honest ever likely to be again, but I'm not sterile yet.

[tara]

Ugh, yucky. I am hoping SO HARD that my wisdoms don't decay. I am v.paranoid about buying tiny brushes so that I can get to them as much as possible, but still.

:( Hope you have a relatively easy extraction.

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

I hope they don't either. I didn't feel a thing, seriously, other than the spate earlier this year, but it is not an experience that I would recommend to anyone D:

I am still, on paper, deciding whether I will have an extraction, but...yeah, real molars. Close to the leper molars. Not good.

[mssithy.livejournal.com]

Wait what at number 2. Are you saying that in the US people get general anaesthesia for just wisdom teeth? D: Holy...It is not done here, just like in Denmark, because the risks are not worth it, unless the patient has a massive phobia or something and can't keep still. I had noticed most of my American friends got general for their wisdom teeth extractions, I figured it was coincidence, I did not know it would actually be hard to find a surgeon who'd use local O.o

I had three wisdom teeth pulled at once, local, I was in and out within 10 minutes and on my merry way home after 15 minutes. I've had multiple jaw surgeries (I had a small incident as a child :p) and only for a bone transplant did they offer me general...which I refused.
General scares me too much. Local is unpleasant at times, sure, but I am awake and can chat with the surgeon and all. For some reason it is less scary for me when I can hear, feel and see them work. They tell in advance what they are doing and it just makes me feel more safe.

I hope you can get them removed soon. Don't worry too much about the horror stories. It's not pleasant but it didn't bother me too much, same for most people I know. (Granted I'd had the bone transplant before then but still) I had heavier painkillers for a day (Ibuprofen 600) as I have an odd reaction to both the local sedative and the stitches, day 2 I had an Ibuprofen 400 before going to bed.

<3 you'll be fine I know it!

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

Yes, I am indeed saying that the use of general anaesthesia for wisdom tooth extractions is widespread here. My dentist was all, "They'll put you to sleep," and I think he was trying to be reassuring, and I was all, "NO THEY WILL NOT." I have an easy out by virtue of the fact that my insurance won't pay for general anaesthesia unless it is medically necessary, and since I don't have a phobia (other than of general anaesthesia), it's not medically necessary :D I'm not sure if it will be hard to find someone who will use local only or not, but I looked at a couple of surgeons' websites yesterday and general anaesthesia was prominently advertised, which I suspect may be more consumer-driven than anything else.

Yeah, I kind of share the feeling that it's better if you can see what's being done (I admit I may not be 100% conscious and present, but I don't trust people to do what they're supposed to be doing, so I definitely don't want them doing it while I'm under).

I hear it's not that much fun as far as spending your afternoon goes, but who wouldn't rather go to work than to have their wisdom teeth pulled ;D It probably won't be that bad once I'm actually there, but since I've never had surgery I don't have any frame of reference for this and I react by going all tense and fight-or-flight. (Fight usually wins.)

Why are they even allowed to market ibuprofen as a painkiller? Maybe y'all have better ibuprofen than we do, I don't know, but I have taken it before when I was in agony and it didn't do dick even at prescription strength.

[mssithy.livejournal.com]

About Ibuprofen, I have been told we generally get less prescribed painkillers and so Ibuprofen 600 and 800 will cut it for us without a hitch. Ibuprofen 600 makes me drowsy and really works for me. I am not sure if this is true, I can only judge from my US friends obviously...I have noticed they generally get painkillers that make me go O.o I guess it's a matter of what you are used to....or we are a nation of pain lovers, I'm not quite sure ;)

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

I have never had painkillers prescribed to me, so I have no idea (they generally aren't unless you have serious chronic pain problems or you've just had surgery or been in an accident). OTC acetaminophen works just fine for me when I'm so hurty I can't function.

I think y'all might be less culturally hung up on discomfort than we are--a lot of people are. XD

[song-of-copper.livejournal.com]

Ouch, ouch! :-( Tooth nasties = most unpleasant. D-:

My dentist (being in the UK, and NHS to boot, i.e. state-subsidised) is really quite hands-off. He always says to me that the best thing for keeping wisdom teeth happy is to rinse with salt-water (in preference to mouthwash preparations) if they ever feel sore etc. Sounds like the decayed ones really have to go, but maybe that cheerfully-cheap remedy might help the remaining ones?! ;-)

Re. anaesthetic for dental procedures, I'm sure the trend has been moving towards local rather than general for a while now. General anaesthetic is, after all, a *big deal* - over here there were some horror stories a few years ago about things going really wrong with dentist-administered general anaesthetic. :-/ I know I'd avoid it if I could!! Also, I thought that often in dental treatment they put the pain-relief in the patient's control?? That way you only get as much as you need/aren't left in more pain than you would voluntarily bear.

I'm sure if your dentist is any good, they'll do all they can to accommodate your wishes, within reason of course! >_<

Good luck and I hope it won't be too complicated/painful. ^_^

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

The blessing is that I felt nothing. When my upper wisdom tooth broke, I was all like, "...did my tooth just break? D: I didn't feel a thing." No wonder--it was hollow. There was nothing left in it to be felt.

They're starting to move to the hands-off plan over here, but my dentist is fairly old-school and we talked about removing them in 2006. (No, actually, he talked about removing them, and I said I wasn't going to have it done because at the time, I had no insurance and I certainly didn't have $2000-$3000 to spend on what would have been unnecessary surgery, as both teeth were intact then.)

The lower one on my right side hasn't even erupted yet. I am rather abnormal why not :D

Over here, wisdom teeth are extracted by oral surgeons rather than dentists, especially because impaction in bone is often involved; there's some overlap involved, but very few people are qualified as both. (Can you imagine the medical/dental school debt? XD) General anaesthesia is a big deal here, or should be, but I was perusing oral surgeons' websites last night and a lot of them prominently advertised it; I suspect this is market-driven rather than otherwise XD

It probably won't be so horrible once I'm in the thick of things, but unfamiliar experiences tend to make my imagination run wild. XD