Say Cheese!

So I went to the dentist yesterday again. This time they wanted to fill a tooth that they'd noticed the previous fortnight when extracting the broken wisdom tooth (which has healed fine, thanks for asking). Since it was the one next to the now-ex-wisdom tooth, it was pretty important that nothing bad happen to it. Or so I'm told.

That XRay was taken before they extracted my wisdom tooth, so you can still see it in the photo. It's the last tooth on the top row, on my left (which is the photo's right). It's gone now, but it's the one next to it that they were concerned about this time.

You can also very clearly see my bottom two wisdom teeth, and how badly impacted they are. They're growing horizontally, and that's why they've got to go. But that's a pleasure for another day.

Unfortunately for me, the extraction of the tooth a fortnight ago went a lot smoother than the filling of this one did. The anaesthetic wouldn't work, and every time the dentist attacked it with the drill, it would hurt like you wouldn't believe. Finally, after half a dozen more injections and 15 mins of waiting, the entire side of my face was numb, and they could proceed. It turned out into a much bigger job that Dr Shivani anticipated, and she needed to fill it in three or four separate layers.

Once it was all taken care of, they gave my teeth a proper clean, polish and fluoride treatment, which, admittedly, they've needed for a long time.

However, as part of the cleaning, they found that one of my bottom teeth wasn't just dirty - it looks to have the beginnings of decay in it as well. So I'm going back next Monday to have that one drilled and filled now. And Dr Shivani's very concerned with my lower front teeth - apparently they're worn down quite a disturbing amount, and it won't be long before the nerve is exposed, and that means then a root canal would be necessary. They've got some ideas to prevent this, but they all sound expensive.

So what started as a quick visit to patch up a broken tooth (that wasn't really hurting anyway) has turned into a big deal. Still, better to get all these problems sorted out now, I suppose, before they become bigger issues further down the track.

But even knowing all that, I'm still not looking forward to the wisdom teeth surgery.