milo and biscuits / 12:38:00 PM

i had my wisdom tooth extracted yesterday. the one on the lower right jaw. and now i feel like i'm a post-op patient who cant eat much to feed that growling stomach. because i cant chew. i cant open my mouth wide for fear of ripping the stitches in my gum.

it was a minor surgery. the dentist said he had to remove part of the bone, to put the wisdom tooth upright before he could extract it. after 45 minutes it was out in 3 parts. local anesthesia. jabs in the right cheek. in the gum. pressure or pain he asks as he tests whether i was down on the drug. then more jabs. i felt like a piece of soft fruit, like mango, with a needle being pierced into me. that was a first, to get jabbed in the cheeks and the gum. and then he started.

i saw the scapel. slice slice slice. i saw various other instruments being passed over my head as i lay on the dentist's chair, as wide as i can open my mouth. the spotlight was on me. that very bright dentist light. then the drill. sharp pain. more jabs thereafter. then i could practically hear him trying to break the bone near the wisdom tooth. oh my god. i cant imagine much pain i'll be in if not for that many jabs of anesthesia. 'i've given you a lot already,' he says. in goes the various instruments to break the bone, slice the gums, whatever he has to do, to get that wisdom tooth out. at some point i just closed my eyes, sometimes from pain. slightly bearable lah. but mainly because i dont want to see what instrument was going into my mouth. or maybe its just amazing how just 1 wisdom tooth, can bring about an army of instruments, anesthesia, 2 nurses, and blood.what you cant see cant hurt you as much i guess.

and then there were stitches. he sewed my gum with sutures, a strand of fibre used to sew parts of the living body according to merriam webster. it feels like a greys anatomy special with dentists.

$430. medication. i am still very much alive. this is like the next scariest thing to happen to my health. the first one was when i fainted and ended up in TTSH for a few hours last year.

that wisdom tooth was crooked and growing towards the molar in front of it that's why i needed minor surgery. so this entry is not to scare you cos i guess everyone has different jaw sizes to cater to the growth of useless wisdom teeth. my theory is i have a small jaw, with my already overlapping front teeth. i'm glad that tooth is finally out cos it was giving me some sensitivity which will probably lead to more decay. and now i just want it to heal beautifully.

living on soggy Julie wheat crackers swimming in my milo. it has never tasted so good, and traditional. Happy Mooncake Festival

Labels: day to day