Woah woah I accidentally left my blog unattended for two weeks!
I have pretty good reasons (read: excuses) but ah well... Better late than never right?!
Making stupid faces to justify stupid excuses heh
So about a month ago, I extracted my wisdom tooth. I actually have to extract all 4 but I've been putting it aside since... I heard how scary it is! Lol. I grew some courage 3 years ago wanting to remove my wisdom tooth but I chickened out and left the dentist after I'm done with scaling.
3 years later, my wisdom tooth decided to be the most annoying thing in the world and traps food between it and the other molar. It was so gross because everytime when I eat, I can find scraps of food in the gap. If I'm lucky, my tongue can skillfully 'lick' it out but if I'm not, I'll have to do some serious digging! Toothpick and finger.. Both very unglamorous k! The shitty part is if I don't dig it out, it'll be so uncomfortable! So, for the sake of long term no-food-stuck-in-my-mouth days, I've decided to...
JUST DO IT!
Also, because I can claim dental now and year end is approaching.. Didn't wanna waste it.
To be honest, I was absolutely petrified. Everyone claimed that it'll hurt like hell and the fact that the minor surgery actually requires your tooth to be drilled and dug out scared the shit outta me! I nearly cried and abandoned ship again but I thought to myself...
"If I can get this done then I can say goodbye to having food stuck!"
Half an hour worth of scary drilling vs a lifelong food stuck free eating, I think I will endure that.
After I'm done with the whole shenanigans, I just had to blog down how I feel about the whole thing. The drilling, the cutting, the entire process.. I can just conclude it with ONE WORD..
CHEH!!!
Allow me to break it down to ya how wisdom tooth extraction is completely not as scary as it sounds.
Myth: It's gonna be the most painful experience EVER!
Fact: LIES! I can't even feel anything.. The whole extraction is really painless thanks to the anesthesia. Basically all you can feel is yanking. Cause the dentist would have to use brute force to yank the tooth out from the bone. I can feel the dentist grabbing on to something and pulling. Other than that, NOTHING! The nurse will be periodically sucking out bits of your tooth out and you can literally see small chunks of your tooth getting removed. But pain? NONE AT ALL.
In fact, the anesthesia was so strong that I can't feel my mouth for hours. Eating and spitting became mission impossible wtf! Apparently, that's how paralyzed people feel like all the time.
Myth: The anesthesia will kill you cause the needle used to inject the medicine is HUGE!
Fact: This will make mothers that have gotten epidural laugh. The needle is an ordinary needle and all you can feel is a slightly pinch. I won't even classify that as pain but more like stings. But it's just one for like 2 seconds. The only thing is that the anesthesia is DAMN BITTER! Can still remember the taste of it inside my mouth! Blergh. I rinsed my mouth countless times after the injection.
Myth: Full body anesthesia is preferred because omg the pain!
Fact: Haha really that would be making mountains out of molehills. It's not that bad la. Just need to sit through the yanking and pressure. But other than it's okay. My dentist opt to keep talking to me so I stay distracted. I think it worked like a charm. Lol.
Myth: The pain after the anesthesia will be hard to endure.
Fact: I think that's again exaggerated! I went out on the day I extracted my wisdom tooth and again on the second day. The 'hole' feels very uncomfortable and painful but that's why they give you painkillers. It was quite painful I'll admit. But painkillers will just subside the pain almost immediately. Around the third day, I stopped taking the painkillers. The pain is alright by then. Nothing alarming. It's painful but it'll sort of feel like..... Period cramps (sorry guys). It's the same annoying sensation that will last the entire day! But if the pain is really unbearable, I think you should consult your doctor. I believe there's no need to drown yourself in painkiller I guess...
Myth: Your food choices for the next few days will be sad
Fact: Erm.. not even close to being true. The exact instruction was no hot stuff and the rest of the food is okay to eat. After my surgery, I had chicken rice. But when the pain gets too annoying, I don't even have the appetite to eat. I ate half of what I usually eat (weight loss guarantee lol). But I did add variety into my choice of food. For instance, I went to sushi king and had their Toufu with soup, ate soft salmon and noodles. So it's not exactly a mashed potatoes and scramble eggs none stop kinda diet. It's about what you can actually put in your mouth and no swallow with minimum chewing. Though, hot food is really off limits!
Myth: Your face will be super swollen
Fact: While swelling is common, it's not a 100% thing. It depends on the skills of your dentist and how your tooth grow. I'm quite fortunate as my wisdom tooth grew in a way that I can just "dig" it out. And my dentist is very skillful so I didn't have any swelling. But the extraction area will feel very tensed. I think it easy because of the stitching. My wound feels so itchy and uncomfortable so when I took off the stitches. I felt a wave of instant RELIEF! Lol. The itching is worse than the pain to be honest.
Okay, I really hope I gave everyone who wished to get their tooth extracted a clearer picture of what is actually going on during that short 15 minutes surgery. And take my word for it! Go for it! There's nothing to be afraid of. Hehe
Disclaimer: If you really pain die then you probably need a better dentist OR you're highly sensitive to pain! Lol
Here's a pic of my tooth for those who're curious.
WARNING: bloody tooth ahead. Turn back now if you're squeamish.
Don't say I didn't warn you! Haha
Done with my updates for now! Follow me on Dayre for daily updates on how a sloth survives working in a concrete jungle!
Bye bye now~
