Dr Wee (endodontist): I am sorry that I have to be the bearer of bad news. The prognosis is not good and I am afraid the tooth is unsalvageable, not even with root canal treatment. It 's a pity that it has got to be extracted as there's no signs of decay or gum disease, it's just a cracked tooth.
Dr Loh (my dentist): The extraction process could be difficult and longer as it's a cracked tooth and I may need to extract it in parts. But not to worry, you will not feel any pain but just pressure from the pulling action.
Dr Loh: Alright, let's numb it.
I cannot deny that the words of your dentist are important but the above are so very impactful that I could still hear them ringing in my ears when I thought about what I had gone through the past two days. Yes, it's certainly a toothy issue but I think it must be an unforgettable one. A "stress line" was noticed by my dentist on one of my molars some months back but it was causing neither distress nor pain. Hence, not much attention was paid to it. But for the past recent months, occasionally when I bit on something hard, a nagging and unbearable pain would linger for a while before it disappeared again. Well, for the fact that the pain disappeared after a short while, I kinda dismissed it and thought maybe could get it checked during the next dental appointment. And just this past week, the pain came back and stayed longer, even through the night. I knew I needed consultation. Fixed an appointment with my dentist, was referred to an endodontist and decision was made to extract the unsalvageable tooth. The tooth was cracked on three surfaces of my tooth and Dr Wee was saying I must have had quite a high threshold for pain. I do? Don't really think so as I was worried about the pain during and after extraction. The day before the extraction and that was Friday, I could hardly eat as the pain was real bad. I was wondering if that was going to continue for a few weeks, I think I could be as thin as a supermodel :P Okie, jokes aside, I definitely will not want to go through that kind of pain. Although I was fearful of the extraction (my first ever in my life), I am kinda glad that that painful tooth which had caused much agony the past three days was going to be removed soon. The extraction process was painless but I shut my eyes most of the times as I did not want to see any of the tools being used although I could hear them. The noise from use of the drill to extract a broken part of the root towards the end was unbearable and I thought my mouth was going to be torn apart! I guess to many, extraction is no big deal but for me, I knew the thought of it initially was freaking me out. But sure grateful to Dr Loh for her assurance, words of comfort and who had taken her lunch break on Saturday to extract my cracked tooth, knowing that I would be away for a holiday trip soon.
This supposedly dental ordeal for the past couple of days has certainly provoked some thoughts which I thought I would like to pen down and not forget. I love food and for those couple of days, to know that eating has become a torture was really a torment. The eating process took twice or even thrice as long to complete. It's like from being a "live-to-eat" to a "eat-to-live" circumstance, even at this stage when I am recovering from my extraction. "Eat to live" because I need to eat so that I could take my medication or else I don't think I would want to move that mouth of mine that much. Ha, my father was the one who has been trying to coax me into eating more these few days. He was trying to relate his own "no-big-deal" experience of a painful tooth and eating after an extraction. I thought maybe I must have been a pampered baby at times.
Prior to discussing with Dr Wee about extraction and possible replacement plans, my first question for him was whether extraction would affect my pronunciation. Ha, he smiled and he said that it would affect more of my chewing habits and swallowing in the long run if no replacements are made or adjusted. Oops, felt like I had asked a silly question :P Nevertheless, he's a nice doctor who went through every detail clearly with me although I was unable to do root canal treatment at his clinic. Was sharing with Miss Tan that one can be poor but must never get sick as medical or dental fees are not cheap. These few days of visiting two clinics and the extraction procedure can easily pay for a short trip to Thailand, I must say, maybe during off-peak period :P Dr Loh seems to have also mapped out possible plans for my teeth after my holiday trip. She has been eyeing my two crooked front teeth for quite long actually. And now, given that big empty space available after my extraction, she saw the possibility of getting the two front teeth straightened. She also wanted to look into the clutching of my teeth which could possibly link to my cracked tooth. Gosh! Not really thinking about all these as yet but maybe should consider increasing my intake of calcium, at least a non-procedural way of strengthening my teeth. Could feel that huge space between my teeth at the back as I am eating my porridge now, still not pretty used to it as yet. Hope the next few days will be better.
