Jerry and The Tooth Fairy

Last week in my "Life is But A Dream" article I went into excruciating detail about how I came to have a broken tooth, what my options were, and how long I waited to achieve final resolution to my physical problem.

In a nutshell: on December 6 the crown fell off of a tooth which had had a Root Canal several years ago, and when I finally got into my Dentist he decided that there was not enough tooth left to put a new crown of (it was broken off at the gumline).

He recommended that I go to an Oral Surgeon to have the roots removed, as there was insufficient tooth showing for an ordinary dentist to pull them using standard techniques.

In the meantime, since I had been remiss in my normal twice-yearly maintenance trips to the dentist, he found some gum problems and several cavities which needed to be filled before Oral Surgery.

He, the dentist, said that he wanted my mouth to be "as hygienic and sterile as possible" before sending me to the surgeon.

My suspicion was that right at the end of the calendar year, he wanted me to use up as much of my dental-plan as possible during the 2009 billing year, and put the actual surgery on the 2010 billing year.

Which they did.

I finally got an appointment with an oral surgeon in Albany ... 15 miles away from my home town of Corvallis ... for a consultation. When I went to meet the surgeon he told me that his plan was basically to just 'pull the tooth' because he thought there was enough enamel between the two roots for him to grasp. He also warned me that in case of complications, he may have to make an incision in the enamel to get to the roots. (The tooth was a Cuspid, the last of the two-root teeth before the Bicuspid. I think.)

The point I wanted to emphasize to the Surgeon was two-part:

1. I was extremely apprehensive about the operation because I had a very bad experience the last time a dentist pulled a tooth; he had tgo break it into pieces by twisting it with pliers, before he could pull the individual roots;
2. When I feel sudden excruciating pain in my mouth, my instinctive response was not to cry out or cringe, but instead I bite down on the hand that hurt me. And I bite really hard!

We discussed full anesthesia, Nitrous Oxide, and a strong Local Anesthetic as approaches for the operation. After some discussion, we decided on the local after application of 'anti-anxiety' medication (Halcion).


The problem was, I would have to take the drug an hour before the scheduled operation, and I had to have someone to drive me home and care for me for the following 24 hours.

It was only the night before the operation that Sandie convinced me that she didn't need to take pain killers in the night or early morning, and she would be able to safely drive us to Albany, wait during my operation, and then get us back home safely.

Which is how it worked out.

In the actual event, I took the Halcion at 9:20 in Corvallis, and by the time we got to the Doctor's office at 10am I was pretty groggy. I don't remember much about the actual operation ... just a few random thoughts and snippets. For example, I remember the surgeon grunting with effort while he was trying to pull the tooth, and I was wondring whether this might not be a bad sign. But then I decided I didn't much care.

I do recall that I had to be escourted out of the office, supported at the desk whilc the receptionists recited the cautions and gave Sandie some paperwork. It think I had to sign some of it.

I slept almost ALL of the way back to Corvallis, slept on the couch while pretending to read a book, and slept 12 hours that night.

When I woke up the next day, I took, a couple of doses of pain killers and ate a lot of soft foods. Other than that, and not feeling like doing anything physical such as going for a walk, my day was completely free of stress and pain.

By Sunday, I was ready to go back to work. That is, I was ready until I tried to get to sleep on Sunday Night/Monday Morning.

But then, that's another story.