De-toothed...

So, my dentist told me that I should get my wisdom teeth extracted as the bottom two are impacted, and since I'm getting two out, might as well get the other top one out to prevent future problems, and the other top one is hidden from sight, beneath the gum and will most likely be hidden forever. So, unless that one starts giving me problem, we will let it be.

I scheduled my wisdom teeth extraction on last Friday, so that I will have the weekend to recover before showing up at work looking like a chipmunk.

Before the surgery last Friday, I had my first consultation end of last year in mid Dec, where I took an 360 degree x-ray, it was rather cool. Then, the surgeon had the talk with me after had me watching a video. I was given the option to be how 'sedated' I want to be during the procedure. I've heard about the drilling and the 'noise' that people talk about so often, and decided to experience it first hand. I got a look from the surgeon when I told him that I want the local anesthetic (instead of sedative with laughing gas, or general anesthesia (being put to sleep)), he told me that probably about 10% of people choose the option I'm choosing. So, I'm all set then.

When my colleagues learned about my brave decision, they thought that I'm some kinda freak, and started describing how horrible the entire experience was for them. How they puked and all that, had bad migraine and what not. I got to admit that I was a little freaked out by them the night before the surgery, second guessing my decision of just having novacaine to numb my mouth and nothing else. But, I guessed that since it's an option on the table, it shouldn't be that bad.

Knowing that I'll be on liquid/semi-liquid diet for a few days after the surgery, I made some preparation the weekend before by buying yogurt, jello, mashed potatoes, and ice cream (gelatto, sorbetto, and stuff). Also, the night before, I soaked some dried mushrooms for the congee I'll be cooking. What else on the menu? Oh yeah, steamed egg (cawanmushi style).

The morning of the surgery was like any other morning, except that I thought I needed to fast, so, I skipped my coffee, but I was so hungry, that I had some munchkins that my manager bought at work. After a half day of work, I left for my surgery at 11.30am, in the middle of a conference call. The weather was frigid, and the wind was blowing strong. Not sure why the weather matters.

After 15 minutes of waiting, I was brought into the surgery room. First I was given few novacaine shots to numb my lips and tongue, and 7-8 minutes later, I was given a few more novacaine shots because my lower lip wasn't numb enough after the first round. And another 7-8 minutes to let the shots to do their work, my lower lip was really really numb by now. So, the surgery began. The bottom two wisdom teeth needed to be broken into two pieces in order to remove them, while the top one was a simple wiggle and pull extraction (in my own terminology).

The whole procedure took about 40 minutes (including the 15 minutes of numbing), and I was done. Just need to come back this following Friday for a post-operation check.

The first day wasn't bad, especially the first 6 hours after the surgery as my lips were still so numb to feel anything. I tried eating jello for lunch, but it was a hilarious sight as my lower lip felt like 5 times its original size, and trying to shove jello into my mouth was like a hit and miss. And to be careful, I just pretty much swallow them straight. Same for the congee I had for dinner. The ice cream and yogurt too.

Oh yeah, I even drove myself to the store to get my prescripted painkiller, and a couple more food items. My apartment-complex-mate cum colleague (due to several misinterpretations, need to clarify that it's the same apartment building, but different unit) noticed that my car was missing when she got back from work and I got a text which reads: Crazy! Where you at?

LOL. And I got many more texts asking about my condition, I even got a call from Keng Yang. He was semi-expecting that I won't be able to speak clearly. Take that! :-p
The pain wasn't bad, it's not really bothering me until I have to eat. And when the painkiller wears off.

So, I spent most of my weekend watching tv and that's about it. I tried studying but, was too distracted.

Here are some pictures...
My drugs - anti-inflammatory and antibiotic.. missing from the picture, Percocet (painkiller)
Ice Cream...
And yogurt...

Jello...
Soaking those dried mushrooms overnight...
Congee... with mushroom and ham...
Steamed eggs with ham...
The plastic bag I got from the surgeon... At least he has a sense of humoUr...

And my swelling isn't that bad. I took my before and after pictures, but it's not really that visible. So, I decided to scrap it.

And... my extracted wisdom teeth... WARNING... There's dried blood on them!!!
The whole one (whitest one) is the one from the top, just the wiggle and pull extraction...
The others are from the bottom, needed to be broken into pieces to be extracted...



So, there you have it... My wisdom teeth extraction...
75% less wise now...