My terrible Ordeal last nite

Had my wisdom tooth extracted last nite & it was a nitemare. I tink for normal extraction, everything shld be fine. For my case, its serious infection of the gums beneath the wisdom tooth. My wisdom tooth was half embedded in the gums and totally not in line with the rest of the teeth. In fact, it grew on the side of the gums rite at the back *cringe*

Ok, my tooth hurt pretty badly the nite b4 and i decided to visit the dentist at Compass Pt. I made an appt at 6.45pm and the surgery started at 7.50pm, ended at 8.25pm. I had 11 injections in all. I noe becos i was counting. In fact, when the doc was drilling halfway, i could feel the pain so intensively, my whole body jumped & nearly knocked over all the instruments. Still, the doc was very patient & he kept assuring me non-stop, telling me it'll be over soon & if pain, he will stop immediately, no prob. But he had quite a number of probs extracting my tooth as the roots was bent at 90 degree. He told me my wisdom tooth was one of the toughest he had to extract due to the roots. The tooth was already decayed by 50% and yet it was very strong. He used alot of strength to pull out the small pieces. He cut my gums to reveal the whole tooth b4 he started to section it by pieces. But of cos, it was not enuf and he resorted to drill part of the tooth into small small pieces such dat it breaks away from the roots itself. Quite complicated to explain~

Hai...i was so scared when the drilling started cos the noise was so loud and it was vibrating so hard in my mouth. I jerk quite a few times and it accidently cut abit of my mouth :( Hope it doesnt turn into an ulcer. The nurse was very gentle and supportive. I cried towards the end of it cos i couldnt stand the drilling noise and the numerous injections (thou i cun say i felt it v much) and the nurse held my hand all the way while trying to help the doc at the same time. She gave me a blanket as well cos my hands were so cold.

When its finally all over, the nurse removed my eye mask (they dun wan to let me see those instruments cos will affect me) and slowly helped me up cos my neck was totally stiff. The doc showed me the pieces of tooth & i was grossed out *pui* The 2nd bomb came when he told me i shld remove my 2nd wisdom tooth as well cos sooner or later, it'll decay too. Goodness~ He advised me to plan properly for the 2nd extraction but do not delay until it hurts cos it'll mean the decay is quite bad already. My wisdom tooth root was very near the nerve too & the doc did tell me abt the risk. My jaw area may be permanently numb...but we wun noe until much later....Something lidat...

X-ray of an impacted (jammed) wisdom tooth. Food debris can collect in the groove between the two teeth. It is often impossible to clean this groove.

X-ray of an actual case in which the decay destroyed much of the wisdom tooth as well as the tooth in front. Eventually both teeth had to be removed.

Decay can develop in hidden areas between the teeth. In the early stages, such decay is often undetected as there is no pain. Left alone, the decay can grow and grow.

Good news is, my wisdom tooth decay did not affect the tooth next to it, so its fine :)

Still, ytday nite's experience was reali horrid. Chris was waiting outside for me & when i came out, i saw dat he had fallen aslp :( Mixed feelings actually. Disappointed dat he wasen v worried abt me but guilty for making him wait since i noe he's v tired from work also.

I'll be seeing the dentist again next Wed to remove my stitches. Im so scared abt dat too but the nurse assure me i wun feel a thing. I wonder if she's trying to calm me down only. They tried to make me laugh after its over by telling me dat the day itself, got an NS guy with the same prob as me. He kept vomitting halfway thru-out the procedure cos his wisdom tooth was way back until he kept vomitting cos the instruments kept pressing against the back of his throat. He was also scared dat he trembled from head to toe. Juz like me. In fact, i was already trembling when they were taking the x-ray cos rite b4 the x-ray, they already injected my gums twice to sooth the pain. I tell, the 1st shot was......ultimate. Even thou they applied the numbing gel, it did nothing to prepare me for the sharp pain. I ci tao freeze on the spot.

So pp, take care of ur wisdom tooth & if the tooth is hard to reach by brushing, u may consider removing them early to avoid high costs & complications. Its no joke i tell u~ If you haven had ur wisdom tooth by age 25, it'll be good to take an x-ray to make sure ur wisdom tooth is not in ur gum cos some wisdom tooth are not able to come out due to lack of space in ur jaws. So they juz stay hidden in the gums.

Conditions when your wisdom tooth can be left alone:

1) The wisdom tooth is not visible in the mouth at all, i.e. it is completely buried in the jawbone. Then chances are the tooth can be left alone. It is wise to monitor the tooth by taking X-rays periodically to make sure that problems like cysts do not occur around the buried tooth.

2) The wisdom tooth has grown completely into the mouth and is in good alignment with the other teeth and can be easily cleaned with your toothbrush and floss

Conditions when your wisdom tooth needs to be removed:

1) The wisdom tooth has partially grown into the mouth and then gets stuck (impacted) because of lack of space in the jaws.

2)The gums around the wisdom tooth gets infected (pericoronitis)

3) The wisdom tooth has decay

4) The wisdom tooth affects adjacent teeth e.g. accumulation of food debris between the impacted wisdom tooth and the tooth in front of it leads to tooth decay. The decay can often go undetected as in the early stages there may be no pain.

5) Plaque accumulation around the wisdom tooth causes gum disease and bone loss.
The tooth has no function i.e. it is not used for chewing because the wisdom tooth in the opposing jaw has been lost.

6) The wisdom tooth interferes with other treatment e.g. treatment with braces to straighten the teeth or, construction of dentures & implants

7) The tooth is associated with conditions like cysts or tumours

So ppl, visit ur dentist & have them checked!!!!!