Wisdom Tooth Extraction

Major announcement. After over a month of pain and suffering, I'm glad to announce that I got rid of the rascal. Hip hip hooray! I've been suffering from severe pain on my face and skull because of the rascal that grew in the wrong direction. The root was so long that it was very near the nerve and was possible touching the nerve (as per the dentist's explanation), which is why I felt pain. So after over a month of taking painkillers and antibiotics, the swelling sort of subsided. Due to my fear of the surgery and the effects that follow, I decided after massive research and oceans of advice, to get it done at the hospital.

Finding a good dentist was the next problem. I wonder how people in this forsaken land deal with teething (dental) issues? Or do they not have any? So I asked around and did a lot of lookup online and found some reviews that said that the doctor at Adventist Hospital is good. So I muster up my courage to go to the dentist for the surgery the minute the swelling subsided. I admit I'm a wuss when it comes to dentist. I am scared of the whirring sound that the equipment make. I'm scared of being lowered backwards on the chair (don't ask me why. I'm just scared. I'm scared of rocking chairs too). I'm scared of the pain that follows the drilling and whatever procedure that they do to the teeth. I suppose my teeth are just extremely sensitive and it hurts like crazy when the dentist are rough and unprofessional. It could also be a phobia that was developed since small due to horrible experience with lousy dentists.

I made an appointment and headed to the hospital. The hospital is seriously messy. Not to mention parking is horrendous. I circled the area four times and finally found a spot outside the hospital grounds and had to walk quite a distance to get to the hospital. The receptionist at the dental department were seriously inefficient. They took donkey years just to register. Like how hard is it to type as per the form that patients were make to fill up? It's not like they have to come up with programming language to key in names. That took over half an hour.

When it was my turn, I walked into the dentist's room. The dentist was still talking to the nurse about some other patient's file when I walked in. He briefly greeted me and carried on with his conversation. The room was tiny and there wasn't much room to move about. There was a big door that is quite a nuisance cause when I was standing there waiting for the dentist to entertain me, a woman presumably a nurse from the hospital from an earlier case dashed in. She didn't knock on the door or anything but just pushed open the door. As I was standing there I had no choice but to move further towards the end of the room because she decided to just barge in. After seeing me standing like a lost child in a crowd in front of him, he turned his conversation to me. He asked me some questions. I told him about my severe chest pain as a result of taking the medication prescribed by another dentist. He asked to see the medicine and was rather perplexed as to why I had such symptoms after taking them.

After some talking, he asked me to get on the the dentist chair. Gulp. He took a look at my tooth and then the nurses started bringing out a box wrapped in green paper, and placed it on the chair rest (table? whatever that thing is called). The part where the dental tools are. He asked me " So do you want to get it done today? Before I could answer, he added, "Since you are here, might as well get it done. I don't want to do halfway. I want to go all the way". I just sat on the chair and obeyed and let them do whatever they have to. The nurses started to drape my chest with a piece of tissue. The dentist told me to open my mouth and he took up a small bottle and sprayed into my mouth. He explained that it will sting a little. Immediately, I felt my gums and tongue sting and it got really bitter. that was only on one side. He propped the chair upright and started talking about the earlier case to the nurse. After a while he asked if I felt numb. I said yes. He asked something which I can't remember but I asked if I can rinse. He said after the jab. He then lowered the chair again, he picked up a metal syringe and injected my gum. He explain that it might hurt a little while injecting. I felt a little sting on the first jab but not the subsequent ones. After that he propped the chair up again and said I could gargle. After a few minutes he asked if I felt numb. I told him just a little bit. He touched my lip and ask do I feel it. I told him yes. He touched the other side of the lip which wasn't injected and then touched the side that was injected and ask whether i can tell the difference. I said I can still feel and it is not numb. He told the nurse to get another dose of anesthetic. He lowered the chair again and injected the gum again.

After about five minutes or so, he started the surgery. Panic. He opened the green wrapper and took out the tools from the metal case. The clanging sound of the equipment make me panic but I tried to remain calm. Kept telling myself not to be a wuss. Just close your eyes. He the placed this rectangular piece of plastic on the other side of my mouth and told me to bite on it. I did and told but i find it hard to breathe so I told him I can't breathe. To which he replied, "Your nose so big you can't breathe? This is just psychology". He removed the plastic piece from my mouth and proceeded with the extraction. I could feel him tugging hard a few times with some metal tool. Then I heard whirring sound. He said he is going to cut my tooth. Panic. I heard whirring and sound of cutting. I felt the pressure but didn't dare move a cell. I clench my eyes shut. Then I heard suction sound, whirring, tugging and some fluid got into my throat so I said to him "water in my throat". He told me to spit it out and gargle. When I did as told I saw some blood. The nurse quickly told me to wipe with the tissue. She saw some blood on my face and wiped it for me. Luckily there was no mirror around. Otherwise I would have had a panic attack. When I lie back down, the nurse console me by saying "Just relax". Then the dentist said " Just swallow". He seemed a little annoyed. He continued tugging and digging. All the while I heard was the tugging, digging, sawing and suction. I dare not open my eyes. At some point, I did feel something. I was possibly pain but I couldn't quite tell. I was mentally telling myself that it will be over soon, just bear with it and don't be a coward.

After a while I felt something brushing against the side of my lip. I brushed several times. Then I felt and heard something hit my upper tooth. The dentist continued whatever he was doing, which I wouldn't know and would never know since I closed my eyes the entire time. The he stuffed something into the now "vacant" area and told me to bite hard. I finally felt some pain. He then propped the chair up. And it was out. He didn't show me the extracted tooth. I saw him throw stuff into the dustbin. I presume it was my tooth or should I say fragments of my tooth since it was sawed into pieces in order to be extracted. I never got to see the rascal that was nestled in my gum for so long. We didn't get to say hello nor goodbye. A part of me was just thrown into the dustbin. All that was done in under 30 minutes. He then told me that he would prescribe me some painkillers and antibiotics to prevent infection. I asked him what time should I start taking the the medicine. He said not so soon since I have extra jab of numbness. He said after about two hours and another before I go to bed. With that I thanked him and head to the payment counter.

The whole extraction took less than 30 minutes. The wait for the payment and medicine though took almost an hour. By the time I got home, it was time to take the medicine. So I took the medicine, Shortly after, I felt pain on my gum. The pain got serious. Screw those who say that I doesn't hurt a bit. It hurt like hell. I had to keep using Ice pack and kept spitting out pools of blood. It was torture. I couldn't swallow as the motion of swallowing affect the wound. I went to the dentist with a half empty stomach because I couldn't eat. I ended up not eating anything after the extraction because it was so painful. I even teared. The remainder of the evening was spent spitting out pools of blood and sticky saliva and changing gauze. I even swallowed medicine while biting onto the gauze. It's fortunate I didn't choke. I could hardly sleep the entire night due to the pain as well as the drool. Each time I lie down, I would drool pools of bloody saliva. I used up all the face towels to soak up the bloodied drool and had to resort to using bath towels, as there weren't any face towels left.  The following day was the same cycle.

After four days, I still couldn't chew properly and am still in pain. I took my medication and did everything diligently but don't know why it still hurts like a bitch.I haven't been able to eat before the extraction due to the extreme toothache. Yet after the the extraction, I still couldn't eat. I have not had a solid meal for over a month. How much longer must I suffer? Not only am I suffering from the pain and being unable to eat, I'm also a thousand  $$$ poorer because of this tooth extraction.

At times like this, insurance is of absolutely no help as dental is not covered. Wonder why we bother getting insurance?

Fright Night

16 August. It was a long and frightening night. I couldn't sleep a wink. I thought i was going to die. My heartbeat was irregular the whole night. When I tried to sleep, I couldn't breathe. My body was vibrating beyond my control. I was shivering . The entire night was spent getting up because I couldn't breathe as the heart was beating at an irregular rhythm , standing on front of the toilet bowl trying to vomit, and purging. The whole cycle was repeated throughout the night. Each time I lie down I would experience difficulty breathing . Then my mouth would become extremely dry and I will drink some water. Then after I feel the urge to vomit or poop. And the whole thing repeats. Seriously cursed. I don't know for sure what is wrong but I guess it's  because of the stupid toothache that I have been taking antibiotics and pain killers for about a month. Asshole toothache. It could also be due to the prescription that the dentist gave me for the toothache. After taking the dentist's prescription , my chest hurts so badly that I have difficulty swallowing. Each time I swallow, it feels like rocks are forcing their way through the skin. Even swallowing water is unbearable. I contacted the dental clinic when I started having chest pain but they didn't reply till two days later. Which things have already aggravated as I was told to finish the prescription. Then since their reply yesterday , they have been pestering me when I'm going for my dental procedure. So I ask can the dentist extract the tooth while I'm in pain. The reply was no. Yet they want me to go in for other procedures like scaling. How do they expect me to keep my mouth wide open when I can't breathe and am in pain? Only care about making money. 

Teething Woes

I hate to admit this but I have a phobia towards dentist. This has been a built on problem since small. It all happened during primary school. I attended the government school just like any child. Unlike students these days that have the privilege of attending fancy international or private schools. There was a room in my primary school that was used as a dental clinic for practicing dentists and nurses. There was also a room that was used for dialysis for outsiders which was situated next to the dental clinic. The students in my school were like guinea pigs to the dentists that came. These dentists and nurses would come to our classrooms with those green dental cards and call out our names. Once your name is called, you would have to go to the dental room to have dental procedures performed on, namely drilling and filling, extraction. I remember clearly my mother stated specifically on the consent form that I shall not receive any form of dental procedures from the practicing dentists. But I still get picked on. When I was in standard one, and didn't know better I just sat still on the dentist chair and let them practice on. I dare not even cry over the pain. So as I got on to higher level, and was more aware of things, I noticed something amiss on my so called dental card. There was a column that was the parental consent and my card was obviously tampered. By tempered meaning, initially it was underlined not allowed but that "not allowed" part of the consent was cancelled out by pen and underlined allowed. My parents never allowed that. Come to think of it, the consent was probably tampered by a teacher, since there was a sensitive nationality lady teacher that hates me for no apparent reason. All because of a lie that was told by her favourite student when we were in standard3. She has not stop picking on me ever since that incident. Psychopathic bitch. So when I was called to the dentist, I told the nurse that my parents did not give their consent for any dental procedures to be performed on me during school. The nurse then scolded me badly. She even threatened me to bring my a formal letter from my parents to state that I shall not be touched as they are doing a good deed by giving free dental procedures. Free your ass. You destroyed my perfectly fine teeth by drilling holes on it to practise so that you can pass your clinical hours. So I told her fine. I will bring it. She added, you go fix your teeth and come back and show me or I will call you out again and fix it. So stupidly I did as her threat. Thinking back, that was really stupid. Should have just complained to the government. Sigh the time when computer was not widely used in our land. I returned to her with a letter from my parents stating that I refuse any form of dental procedures from them and handed it to her. Thinking that this is the end. How stupid. It is not. The letter was probably discarded and I was victimised throughout my primary school life. Each time I go to the dental room, I will repeat the my parents do not consent phrase. How brazen of me. Once I was called in to the dental room and there was this fat lady nurse/dentist wannabe on duty. So I went on the chair for the routine. She was rude and rough. She disregarded my no dental procedure phrase and forced herself on me. She was so bad at her drilling that it hurt like hell. I was crying and pleading for her to stop. She got angry and shouted at me "buka" telling me to keep my mouth opened so that she could drill. The other nurse, and older Chinese lady tried to calm me down and started to intercept from afar telling me that it will be over soon. The fat sensitive nationality, unqualified nurse/dentist wannabe kept drilling and I was struggling in pain. I think she hit the nerves or gums or something and I bled. Only then she stopped and told me to gargle. I can't remember if she was the one who continued with the filling or the other nurse. From then on, I have a phobia of going to the dentist. I fear hearing the sound of the drilling equipment. Simply just fear the term dental. Recently, I have a very bad toothache. It got from bad to worse and became unbearable. I had to take medication to help suppress the pain but to no avail. It hurts till my face, ears and skull hurts. I called up the dental clinic to schedule an appointment and the nurse said that nothing can be done unless the pain subsides and told me to continue taking medication till the swelling subsides. So when the swelling lessen after over two weeks, I immediately went to the dentist. The first thing the dentist said to me when she saw me was " has your face always been lopsided (meaning bigger on one side). I was stunned. My auto response was "I don't know". To which the dentist replied " how can you not know? You look at yourself everyday". Well I don't self admire daily at the mirror, so I don't know. Or perhaps I'm used to seeing my face that I don't notice that it is lopsided. The nurse handed her a big mirror and she held the mirror to my face and ask me to see whether I look like that daily. I asked her " is my face swollen?" The dentist replied "it looks swollen to me" . She proceeded to sit on her chair and told me to lie down to be examined. She then told me to go for an X-ray. All the nurses were chuckling at me. I must have been really amusing to them. The dentist then asked " are you pregnant?"  I told her "no, I'm not married" . She found it funny and said " it's a standard question I ask everyone, including children. Then I was ushered into the X-ray room. The nurses from the dentist room came with me to the X-ray room. They were still chuckling at me. One of the nurse then asked if I'm wearing earrings and if I am to kindly remove them. So I removed my earrings and place them in my bag. Then she held out a black vest to be worn and said that it's a little heavy and strapped it on me. It was indeed heavy. She told me to stand in front of the X-ray machine and proceeded to place a small zip lock bag on a small plastic stick on the machine. She instructed me to place my face on the chin rest and proceeded to adjust the height. She then told me to bite on that piece of plastic that she "wrapped" earlier and align my face with the red laser lines in front of me. I bit on the plastic and began to feel pain on my aching side. Because of the terrible toothache, I couldn't even close my mouth hard or slightly harder because it will hurt badly. The other nurse start the machine and the side headrests stated clamming in to hold my face in position. The machine started giving out instructions : close your eyes, the X-ray will take place now. After a while the machine instructed me to open my eyes and that was done. I was ushered back to the dentist room an my X-ray image was already displayed on the monitor in there. The dentist was already looking at it and she explained to me my situation. I saw my once upon a time gloriously beautiful teeth on the monitor. My teeth has always been the envy of others in school since the were always perfectly straight and I never had braces. Which come to think of I should have had braces to safe me this agony now. There I saw the pain in the jaw. The prick. Lying perfectly flat on my jaw, the stupid don't know how to grow wisdom tooth. It should be call anal tooth since it is stupid good for nothing and only cause pain and agony. The dentist said that my wisdom tooth root is touching the nerve, which is why I feel pain. She can't be for certain whether it is touching or very near the nerve because the X-ray does not show. So definitely surgery is required to remove this tooth. She said she will give general anesthesia to remove the tooth and then will assess whether the tooth have cause further problems to the tooth in front. Hearing the word surgery made my phobia resurface. I have never had any surgery in my life. And to have surgery when I'm fully aware of it drove my phobia to a higher level. I might end up with a panic attack during the surgery and cause problem for the ongoing procedure. The dentist my have noticed my face colour changed and suggested that I think it over and prepare myself and come when I'm ready. Because the pain had been unbearable, I wanted for it to be done there and then but my gums was still swollen so the dentist was adamant to perform the surgery for fear that the surgery will cause further inflammation and complication and extreme pain. So she suggest that I go back no take her prescribed medication until my swelling subside and reschedule the procedure to another day. The bill came to close to 200 for just the X-ray and medication. I don't know how much the procedure will be and the dentist say that there will be possible crowning if the front tooth is badly damaged. And that was just for one wisdoms tooth. I have three. One still hidden in the gum. Fml. 

Nationality

I was in a shop browsing when this person said something out loud. I looked up to see if that voice was talking to me. Indeed it was. A middle aged uncle started repeating what was spoken earlier. I thought that I couldn't understand because I wasn't paying attention as I wasn't aware that he was talking to me. I listened carefully to what he was saying. But I couldn't understand a word that he was saying. He looked at me and repeated what he said earlier again. For the third time. I stared cluelessly at him. He finally realised I don't understand what he was saying, and quickly walked away. Right after he passed to my other side, he spoke to me again. This time in English. He asked, " You are local?". I replied, "yes". He immediately added, " You are not from Indonesia?". I said, "No". And walked away. I was browsing another spot when he started talking to me again. I just smiled and walked off. I do get asked a lot about my nationality. Usually when they find out about my name. I do get asked a lot whether I'm Japanese or korean or from china (gasp). This is the first time I'm asked if I'm Indonesian. I wasn't even wearing makeup. Did I look heavily makeup-ed or look so terrible that he thought I was a maid?