wisdom teeth

Not much has been happening. My anxiety has been extremely manageable since we got back home from the trip. I'm amazed - I definitely wasn't expecting things to go this well. But since they are, and I have nothing new to report, I'm going to post an old story. I got my wisdom teeth removed about two years ago. It was an experience I was dreading, because I felt sure it would put me in danger of throwing up. But it actually turned out completely fine, and I consider it one of my greatest successes ever. I'm so glad I didn't chicken out, because now I know I don't have to worry about them ever again.

So it started out with a consultation with the dentist who was going to perform the surgery. That part was awful. He was definitely not skilled in dealing with anxiety issues. I had envisioned that the consultation would be in a quiet back room with a closed door, but it was in a little examining room right next to the front desk, and he left the door open the whole time. And he talked incredibly loudly. I was of course trying to get all my points across the same way I had rehearsed them earlier, but after I mentioned the phobia, he started talking (shouting) about the possibility of me getting sick and how I was afraid of getting sick, and I was very aware of the fact that the people at the front desk could hear every word. I guess dentists don't expect you to be self-conscious.

He didn't have any comforting information either. He said that even prescribing me a strong anti-emetic might not keep me from getting sick, because 1) most people get sick immediately after the procedure before they've had a chance to take it and 2) people won't usually take it until they start feeling nauseous. Plus if they are going to sedate you, any kind of sedation makes you nauseous, so he said they already add anti-emetic to the drip and that none of it is any guarantee. Then he said 5% of people or 1 in 20 will throw up, and usually it is from the pain medication. He recommended sedation for me, based on my X-rays, and he said he thought everything would be uncomplicated for me. But obviously he didn't see the vomiting thing as a big deal, no matter how much I tried to make him see it that way. He prescribed me two anti-emetics, a regular one and then a more expensive one that he said was super strong. This was my first experience with prescribed anti-emetics. I later found out the super strong one was Zofran. Of course I planned to use that one, because I wanted the strongest one possible.

I was pretty freaked out when I walked out of there, but it still seemed like I could possibly avoid getting sick. I decided I would take the anti-emetic before the procedure, I would not be sedated, and I would not take any prescribed pain medication.

The morning of the procedure, I took the Zofran before even leaving the house. It dissolved on my tongue easily and tasted okay but had kind of a bad after-taste. I didn't notice any bad side effects from it either. I also had three 45-minute Kathy Griffin comedy routines on my iPod so I would have something really hilarious to distract me during the surgery.

The first thing they did was put two giant Q-tips in my mouth with a bad-tasting goo on them to start numbing my mouth. Pre-numbing to get me ready for the long needle that really numbs you. Then the doctor gave me about eight shots with the long needle. I only felt an uncomfortable pinching sensation. After that, they told me good job, I had gotten through the worst part of it. I did not believe them. But it was true. I felt no more pain after that.

I was left alone for a while, and my mouth, lips, chin and even the sides of my face up to my ears got extremely numb. Then the doctor came back, and he and an assistant went right into the procedure. It all started so fast I hadn't had time to start my iPod, so I was fumbling with it while they continued shoving tools in my mouth. I finally got it playing, and as soon as I did, I shut my eyes really tight because I knew it would be bad to see anything that was going on. They started drilling, and the drill was so loud I couldn't hear the iPod anyway. I was just catching snatches in-between, and I couldn't really concentrate on it, because I was focused on the pressure and the sounds and wondering exactly what they were doing to me and marveling at the idea that they were hurting me extremely badly, but I could not feel a thing. They were having a pleasant conversation the entire time. I wasn't really paying attention, but they were laughing and talking like they were just sitting down having coffee.

I only had two wisdom teeth, both on the bottom. They started with the right side, and after probably three to five minutes at the most, they stuck a wad of gauze in there and switched to the other side. I wondered if they were done but couldn't really believe it could be so. They spent the same amount of time on the left side, and then they stuck a wad of gauze there too and said I was finished. I "said" (mumbled) "really?" and they said yes, and the doctor said that I definitely wasn't a patient that needed to be sedated, and that most people needed to because they couldn't handle the stress of it. I was shocked by all this, shocked that it was over, shocked that I was pretty comfortable the whole time, shocked that they were making it sound like I was one of their least anxious patients.

That was it. Then the assistant gave me a speech about how to take care of my mouth and what I should eat that day (cold, soft foods). I had a bunch of questions I wanted to ask her, but I couldn't speak. I don't remember what they were, but I guess they weren't that important, because it all turned out okay. Later on, when the anesthesia wore off, my mouth felt extremely sore, but it was not the terrible pain I had heard described by other people. I think I took some Aleve for the pain, nothing else.

The end. I know the experience will be different for each person, but I wanted to share my happy ending. Everyone I had ever talked to about it had made it sound like a nightmare of excruciating pain and unavoidable sickness. Maybe I got lucky, or maybe people just love to exaggerate this type of story in a bizarre "whose life sucks more" competition. I couldn't say for sure. With all the horror stories, it was only my fear of facing worse problems in the future from not getting the teeth removed that pushed me into it, but I'm really so glad I got it over with.