Wisdom tooth extraction – guys, it’s NOT scary. In fact, if you can believe it, I actually had a pretty good time. Yeah, I’m a little achy and I can’t eat anything good for another three days or so, but I’m honestly a little shocked that people make such a huge deal out of this procedure!
So yeah, I asked my friends, and I looked up this whole ordeal on the internet. I will admit right now without shame that I was absolutely terrified. I’d heard everything from “You’re gonna be out cold for days!” to “You’ll be in the worse pain imaginable!” Gee, what a great way to go into something, huh? Yeah, I did have the comfort of knowing I’d be unconscious through the entire thing, but I kept having this nagging worry that I was going to wake up right in the middle of them cutting into my jaw. Not a pretty thought, mind you.
What worried me more than the physical aspect of the surgery was my homework. This week I had a ton of assignments to get done, and I managed to finish most of them before this morning. With luck, all of my teachers understood my worry when I emailed them about the issue. Some even offered to extend deadlines, which I happily will not need, unless some kind of complication happens later on.
Anyway, on to the procedure. I just know all of you have been dying to hear this part. So, we get to the office and I wait for about… thirty minutes. They take another x-ray to determine exactly where my bottom wisdom teeth were in position to the major nerve that they did NOT want to go near. They gave me about a 2% risk of nerve damage, which didn’t worry me at all. They all had a professional attitude about them, and I didn’t have much choice but to trust them at this point.
So, after I signed the consent forms, hugged my mother and considered ducking into the restroom to throw up, I grew some guts and followed the nurse into the operating room. Guys, it looked like a scene from a horror movie. O_O The chair was nice and comfortable, but the table behind the chair had all of the drills, the prods, the… ugh, I don’t even stare long enough to see what else. So I sit down and focus my attention on the wall, thinking “Okay, one little prick from the needle and this will be all over.” which isn’t too much comfort because I’m not a big fan of needles. Then the nurse put a mask over my face with had a mixture of oxygen and laughing gas. LAUGHING GAS!
She is now officially on my hero list. I’m sending her a Christmas card.
I love that stuff so much, and had I known the procedure included this wonderful, wonderful drug, I probably would have volunteered every single tooth in my head. I started breathing in, and everything got all nice and tingly. Then I felt the IV go into my hand, which I could care less about at that point, and then things got all fuzzy and fast-forwarded.
Here’s something cool that might freak some of you out but remember, I may have imagined all of this. So I was in lala land with King Jareth in the labyrinth somewhere, and I heard the sound of a drill. I remember opening my eyes and seeing… well, the mask, and murmering to let them know I was waking up. I heard the nurse say “You’re doing great, almost done” or something to that effect, and then I felt my arm get colder. That’s right, I think I actually remember a little bit of the surgery! Yet another reason I was so happy about the nitrus oxide, so I could enjoy the moment instead of freaking out and flailing about on the chair.
Next thing I know, I’m packed with gauze and drifting in and out of consciousness in the backseat of my parent’s Chevy Tahoe. By the time I got home, the nitrus had worn off and I was able to walk to my bed, where I immediately passed out. Hours passed, I woke up, moaned a bit, took a pain pill, and tah-dah!
So there you have it. Those of you who have to have wisdom teeth extracted, fear not. A. You’ll be out of it (hopefully) through the entire procedure, B. You’ll be high as a kite, which is always a good thing so long as it’s medically condoned, and C. The pain afterwards is seriously not that bad. It’s sort of a sharp ache that dulls a LOT after taking the meds. To be honest, this doesn’t feel much different than getting a tooth pulled. After all, you’re left with about the same result, right?
I do have one complaint though… I’m SO hungry! I think I’m going to attempt a bowl of chicken noodle soup, then relax for the rest of the day. I’ll worry about the school work tomorrow.
22yo
Thanks you guys.
