I'm a total wuss when it comes to inflicting pain upon my body and seeing my own blood. (Oddly, I am okay patching up other people.) Case in point: I actually put off getting my wisdom teeth extracted for about 5 years longer than I should have. Horror stories about others' experiences definitely attributed to my resolve until New Years Eve '07. My teeth got infected and I fell physically ill with a fever, chills, and flu-like symptoms due to those unhappy little guys.
It was time for them to go.
For extractions, Dr. Timothy Thoai Nguyen is the man! He's an oral surgeon in Milpitas who specializes in wisdom teeth extraction among other services. I was referred to him after a quick trip to a random 1-800-dentist dentist to pinpoint exactly what was causing me my teeth-grief.
After looking up his reviews on Yelp and seeing all the good things people had to say about his work, I was a little less dreadful. After going in for a consultation and meeting with the man himself, I was very reassured that I was in good hands. I also just really wanted them out at that point.
Since my teeth were pretty much fully grown in, Dr. Nguyen helped me decide that a local anesthetic was all I required instead of getting completely knocked out. I didn't even need nitrous oxide! (My not having any dental insurance may have played a role in my decision, but turns out in the end the general numbing was really all I needed and what I would recommend. Remember, I'm a wimp at this stuff.)
Getting my 3 wisdom teeth extracted was $1100 and took no longer than 30 minutes total from the time I took to my seat to when I walked out to the parking lot with a mouth full of bloody gauze. I can honestly say the worst part and what took the most time was getting numb. They made sure to give me a lot of foul tasting numbing gel so all I felt was a little pinch at the injection sites. Okay, multiple little pinches. Twenty minutes later, after making sure I was nice and numb, they started in.
I forgot to mention that they let me listen to my Ipod throughout the entire process. One Justin Timberlake song after they started in -- "My Love" from FutureSex/LoveSounds (I can't listen to that album now without flashbacks to sitting in the dentist's chair with a set and a half of hands in my mouth) -- my 3 teeth were out! And off they sent me, no stitches, just a mouthful of gauze.
Though they require someone to drive you home, I totally could've driven myself. I think Shrek was pretty shocked when I skipped out of the office and was chattering away as we sat in traffic. After all, he'd braced himself, expecting me to be all mopey and whiney after the procedure. But to his surprise, at home I simply settled in with some ("free") vicodin, an Orange Dream Machine with protein (eaten with a spoon, of course), and the first two seasons of Lost. No problem. By the next evening I was eating Shrek's homemade chicken noodle soup.
It took a good 6 months for the gaping holes in the back of my mouth to completely fill in with gum tissue which was a real pain when I started eating solids again. Shrek referred to my pockets as my "flavor savers" (Ick!). After each meal I'd lean over the sink and squirt water into each pocket to clean them out. Apparently, there's a reason the dentist doesn't give you a little squirter before your follow-up appointment a week later. It's so you don't mess up the healing process/blood clots that are supposed to form. Oops! Shrek gave me one he keeps in his emergency survival kit after watching me struggle to remove the leftover food around the third day after. Glad everything went without a hitch! Now, if only I could find a dentist to take care of my root canal with my current dental insurance....
