|
Recently, I haven't been in the mood to post much because of a toothache. The saying goes, ""A toothache is not a disease, but when it hurts, it can be life-threatening. This may sound like an exaggeration, but only those who have experienced a toothache truly understand how excruciating it can be. It's the kind of pain that makes you feel lethargic, wanting to be alone in silence. You lose your appetite for anything, as chewing only intensifies the agony. When someone talks to you, you don't feel like responding because opening your mouth is bound to worsen the pain, and it's hard to focus on anything else.
About a week ago, out of the blue, I decided to get my wisdom teeth extracted. The wisdom teeth on my upper and lower right side were causing discomfort while eating, often trapping bits of meat that were hard to remove.
I went to the hospital, where a doctor attended to me and arranged for me to lie down for the procedure. I expressed some concern, saying, ""Doctor, my lower wisdom tooth seems a bit crooked; is it okay to extract it?"" He casually replied, ""No problem, it's a straightforward procedure."" I chose to trust him. But later, I regretted it.
After administering anesthesia, they started with the extraction of the upper wisdom tooth. It was surprisingly easy, indeed very easy; a few pulls with the forceps, and it was out. I couldn't feel any pain, but I could sense the tooth being removed. Next was the lower one. In hindsight, it took at least fifteen minutes, and they used several different tools. Various instruments took turns trying to deal with one disobedient tooth. I started feeling the pain of tooth extraction, and I urgently asked the doctor to give me another shot of anesthesia. Finally, it came out. It even brought a small fragment with it; the tool had shattered part of the tooth.
Over the next five days, my cheek swelled, the gum around the tooth became inflamed, but the worst was the swelling and pain on half of my tongue. It was excruciating. During the day, the pain affected my appetite, and I could barely eat a few noodles. At night, I couldn't sleep peacefully. Especially on the fifth night, my ear, head, tongue, and gum pain all converged. I couldn't sleep at all; I just tossed and turned in bed, trying to endure the pain.
I suspect that my tongue was injured during the tooth extraction procedure. Because when I had my left wisdom tooth extracted, this didn't happen. The next day, I went back to the hospital to see the chief doctor, explaining my symptoms. He seemed skeptical, saying, ""Tooth extraction shouldn't injure your tongue; I've never heard of such a thing. It's likely that another tooth next to your wisdom tooth is causing the problem.""
So, he examined me. Indeed, when he tapped on the tooth that had been next to the wisdom tooth, I felt pain. Then he rinsed it with cold water, and I felt pain again. He confidently said, ""This tooth is problematic."" I understood that this tooth was indeed the issue. It seemed that I had to undergo another procedure.
The next step was root canal treatment. They drilled from the top, pierced through, and then used instruments to cut the tooth nerve. Then, they filled it. They repeated this process two or three times over two to three weeks, ensuring that the tooth nerve was completely severed, and the pain was gone. Afterward, they ground down the crown of the tooth, and I got braces. Well, I had no choice. Clearly, my grinding teeth were affected by the crooked wisdom tooth, leading to erosion. Once confirmed that there was a bad tooth, it had to be treated.
I completed the first step of the root canal treatment, which involved cutting the tooth nerve. But my tongue still hurt. What could I do? I asked the doctor to prescribe antibiotics to fight infection. Well, oral medication alone wasn't enough anymore.
Now, I'm still in pain from the toothache, but I'm feeling slightly better mentally.
These few days of suffering have made me realize:
1. It's essential to stick to the right ideas. Don't give others opportunities that could lead to your injury.
2. Health is crucial. Being sick for a few days, I hardly posted on the forum. It's better to take it easy a little every day than end up not being able to do anything because of poor health. |
|