dentist

So the other day I went to the dentist to get 4 cavities filled (I know what you're thinking, and yes I do brush, duh ew who doesn't)... but these were the ones that were little and stuck in between the teeth.

Anyway, I'm no cavity virgin, so I wasn't all that nervous. And I knew going into it that I would need some novocain.

I arrive at 440 for my 430 appointment (damn LA traffic got me there late). I waited in the waiting room for about 5 mins so they could get my room ready (as if they weren't expecting me??come on.) Got into the chair, waited a bit more, and finally the dentist came in. We chatted briefly, he made yet another joke about my name being "Harley" and wouldn't it be funny if my "last name was Davidson?" Then he numbed my gums with a topical gel and left. Several minutes later he came back to shoot up the actual novocain (the one with the 7 foot needle). 4 shots later, he left me to let it kick in.

While waiting, I had this amazing view of palm trees and the sunset (Helloooooo California!!!) Very calm and serene. Meanwhile, it felt like my lips had grown 3x the size, but when I checked the handheld mirror, it didn't look as bad/weird as it felt .. or didn't feel .. not sure.

About an hour later, he came back in and we got started. The one on the top was completed without a hitch. He moved to the bottom right, went halfway, then moved to the bottom left ---OUCH!!! I felt this sharp shooting pain in my tooth .. like a lightning bolt. So he shot me up with #5 and continued to finish on the right side while that new shot sank in.

Back on the right, as he was drilling, he said he found another cavity .. aka, another $100 or so. Of course I told him to fill it .. so onward he went.

Back to the left side ... yet again, sharp shooting pain!.. In comes shot #6 ... only let it sit for about 5 mins till he continued again and of course I felt the pain again .. shot #7 ...This time we let it sit for about 20 mins ... He came back to drill ... and I felt pain still! .. shot #8 .. . about 45 mins passed ... I've been in the chair for about 2 hours, with my jaw open for about 90% of that time. (sidenote: the maximum legal limit of novocain shots is 20..I wasn't even close).

He left, and came back, and yay, successfully filled that darn cavity. Then he casually mentioned that since my left side is already so numb, why don't we go ahead and take out that wisdom tooth? (Back track -- i've seen this dentist 2 other visits prior to this, and each time he recommended to remove all 4 .. so this wasn't that outta the blue.)

I gasped and turned to the nurse, "Ahh, I'm scared!" she just smiled back at me and nodded (thanks lady).
Finally, I agreed. It made sense. I didn't wanna haveta come back and go thru all that novocain shit ever again.
Novocain shot #9 (a "just for good luck shot" I presumed, cuz i really was fuckin numb on the left side of my face -- like all the way up to my hair line.)
About 20 mins later, he came back and started to push .. or pull . . on the tooth. All I felt was pressure, and my eyes were closed. It felt like my jaw was going to snap. I moaned, or made some kind of noise which indicated for him to stop, and I was like it feels like my jaw's gonna snap ... so he got this metal mouth holder-upper thing, and that did the trick - it was out in 2 seconds!! What a bloody mess - ew. I can't even remember the last time I lost a tooth .. although I do remember in the good ol days when my pediatric dentist pulled out a tooth or 2 of mine (one of the worst childhood experiences of my life).

I was gonna take the tooth home with me and put it under my pillow for the Tooth Fairy, but then remembered that the 'Fairy was paying for this whole visit, so I decided that wouldn't go over too well.

As I'm walking out with this huge wad of gauze in my mouth, and a face that I could no longer feel, I remembered that I had an interview the next morning - fuck, this was a mistake - I began to panic, slightly. This was a bigger deal than I thought, especially when the doc began writing a prescription for Vicodin and an antibiotic to prevent infection. Not to mention that I had some other rules to follow -no drinking through a straw, no spitting .. no eating ... OYE.

So after 3 hours, and over $700 later, I get home with some mashed potatoes to make for dinner (soup was off limits that night because it was too hot and would irritate the gums). I relaxed on the couch, and watched the movie The Artist with a bag of ice on my cheek. After the movie, I decided to get the prescription filled. I had such a headache, my jaw hurt, and my gum was sore. Not to mention I might have bit my tongue somewhere in the numbness state, because today it's hurting just in one spot, but there's no mark or anything .. thank God for vicodin.

Anyway, the next morning I woke up in excruciating pain at 7 AM - my interview wasn't till 10. I couldn't pop a Vicodin cuz I hadda drive soon, not to mention I also hadda be on my A Game. I was gonna take Excedrin, only to realize that has aspirin in it, and aspirin is off limits. Luckily in my purse I had one dose of Advil, so I took those.

I got back after the interview, iced my face and took a pain killer and dozed off for a bit. When I woke up, I realized that my bite was a bit off. So I'm going back tomorrow for my doc to file down some of the filling on the left side so it evens it out back to normal. UCH what an ordeal!! But it's worth it -- coulda been worse -- like root canal or some shit.

Arite enough about me, what about you -- have you ever had a cavity extravaganza story? Wisdom teeth pulled??? Leave a comment to compare war wounds.

All for now, thanks for reading :)
-Harley's Hype