Painful, to tell the tooth

Sometimes, things do go to plan, and these Tooth Tales are becoming happy ones. Which isn’t to say this isn’t still an ordeal, of course, just that ultimately it’s going very well.

Today I had the “light cleaning” I mentioned last month, but the flap surgery was delayed until this coming Tuesday. The Terrible, Awful Cold: 2015 Edition hit with full force on the day I was supposed to have the procedure, and I had to re-schedule.

That wasn’t a drama, and the periodontist decided to reschedule the hygienist for January because I’ll see him again in seven months and January will be about halfway. This is an improvement: I saw him again five months after my treatments last year, which means this is another indication of the improvement.

However, today’s “light cleaning” hurt—a lot. The periodontist gave me lighter anaesthetic because it wears off faster, and since he was only working on a small area, this made the most sense. But there were points when the bit was furthest under my gum that the pain was really intense—I felt it into my jaw.

Time was, I would have stopped and asked for more drugs, but I didn’t. I had my hands folded over my stomach, and I closed my eyes and just concentrated on my breathing: Slow, steady, calm. I knew it would pass, that the whole thing would be over before I knew it, and I told myself I could endure it; I did endure it, and it was over quickly.

The anaesthetic wore off after an hour or two, and in the evening my jaw hurt a bit, something that I seldom experienced during the more intrusive procedures, oddly enough. But, it’s done.

I had a very busy day today—running around all over the place—and the short life of the anaesthetic was actually a good thing. Tuesday’s will be more intense.

I’ll check with the periodontist to make sure, but I expect that I’ll be seeing the regular dentist next month. Which means my six-monthly check-up will then be right before I see the periodontist again. I’d like a little more space, but I need to get on a regular schedule.

So, today’s episode was actually pretty subdued, which is fine with me! Tuesday’s will be a little more involved, but the overall arc of this story is positive. I’m very happy about that.

The image above is a reproduction from the 20th US edition of Gray's Anatomy, and is in the public domain. It is available from Wikimedia Commons.