Monday, August 31, 2009

Fill Me up

A couple of weeks ago I went to get my teeth cleaned at the dentist. They took x-rays and then the doc looked at my teeth and told me I had three cavities. I scheduled an appointment to go in to get them filled. Today was the day.

The dentist office isn't exactly accessible. The chairs in the rooms don't move so I had to squeeze my wheelchair in between things. Then I had to tilt my chair back as far as it went; I felt like I was going to fall backwards. He put some topical in my mouth to numb it before he injected the novocaine. It tasted disgusting. I made a face at him and he told me it was supposed to taste like a pina colada. I guess I'll never be drinking one of those. It's probably not exactly the same. Anyways, then he gave me a shot of novocaine and my mouth got all numb. He started drilling my teeth about five minutes later. The noise sounded like a jackhammer, not to mention the pieces of teeth that were flying out of my mouth in every which direction. (Excuse my similes and use of detail. I'm practicing for my creative writing class.)

After he drilled them, he filled the holes. Then he polished it and off I went. Only with a little trouble because my mouth was numb and I was trying to drive my wheelchair with my tongue. I did make it home safely. However, I wasn't able to eat anything for a while. I was starving! It took a while for the novocaine to wear off and the feeling to come back in my mouth. I am still sore from the needle. Don't get me wrong, I do love going to the dentist. It's when they start poking me with needles and drilling holes in my teeth where I get a little nervous. Everything turned out okay though and I have no more cavities.

Jenni

4 comments:

Matthew Smith said...

Aaargh fillings!

I had a few when I was a kid, and I remember the disappointment when I was told I had to have my first one. I remember how unpleasant the needle felt in my mouth, and after it was over and my mouth was still numb, I remember chewing on something inside my mouth; of course, it was a part of my mouth. I knew I was chewing on something but I didn't know what, so when the anaesthetic wore off, my mouth hurt like I'd never known before.

The next time I had to have a filling, I didn't have the anaesthetic. It was actually a lot less painful than the effects of chewing my tongue or the side of my mouth.

Rai said...

Yea the dentist is one of those " it's all fun and games until they start poking you with needles and such " moments . I can see how a numb mouth might impeed steering a bit lol. Hope the rest of the day turns out great for ya :).

Steve said...

Steering with a numb tongue? Oh my gosh! The things you've have to go through.

I will never ever complain again about getting dental work done again!

Take care!

Matthew Smith said...

Steve, my thought when Jenni mentioned having her mouth numbed (besides my own experience) was to wonder how it felt for someone with a complete quad injury to have one of their remaining areas of feeling numbed, even if temporarily.