When she saw me, the girlfriend grinned. It didn't surprise her that I just had two impacted wisdom teeth removed 3.5 hours ago. Months ago, she was the one who staggered out of hospital to dinner after major surgery 3.5 days prior.
There was but a slight swelling on the cheek, and muffled enunciation from biting down the gauze to maintain pressure over the new stitches. Other than that, I was perfectly fine, and HUNGRY. I was NOT going to miss seeing the friends at Hinoki.
There was no doubt that I could eat, but prudence ought to be observed on not chomping down on hard foods, and less quantity should be consumed just to not aggravate the wound. The chefs cut me thin slices of sashimi, and upon request also cut them smaller. Chawanmushi, mushrooms, tofu and soup went down easy. Had to regretfully decline the lovely cold sake offered. I kept the gauze on throughout dinner, rinsed it out with antiseptic mouthwash immediately after, and changed a fresh gauze. By then, the bleeding had significantly reduced.
Even though the whining over an injury might be incessant, and I'm a chicken about many things, I possess a rather high threshold of pain (but not for sound intensity). The horror stories of wisdom tooth extraction/surgery conditioned me for excruciating pain. Odd that it never hit. At midnight when the painkiller should have worn off, I was bemused at the zero amount of pain felt. My body has probably taught itself to release a truckload of beta-endorphin. The hard fall and bruises (down the right shoulder to hip) from parkour a couple of days ago hurt more. The numbness from the local anesthesia had subsided. I could brush my teeth that very night. My charming dentist had held up his end of the bargain by giving me an excellent oral surgeon. They knew I was concerned about pain management and risk of infection after. The amount of pain and bruising is proportionate (and testament) to how strong and skilled an oral surgeon is. Am also guessing that the roots didn't wrap themselves around the nerves. Whewwww.
The next morning, I woke up and stared very hard at the mirror. The swelling on the cheek had gone down a little. No bruising. Wow. Hurrah! Bleeding had stopped. Wound looked a cute pink instead of last night's raw red; seemed to be gathering gum around the stitches properly and on its way to healing without the dreaded dry socket. Surprisingly fast. And there was still NO PAIN. How insane is this? Unbelievable. Went ahead with my prescribed second dose of painkillers. I had a full day planned and wanted no sudden delayed pain to hit me like a ton of bricks.
Other than being grouchy at having to lay off all pilates, parkour and swimming for 7 full days, I'm in swell condition. No issues with cold water and food. Minus the cereals and grains, I'm eating exactly what I normally do, albeit cut in tinier pieces. Not a sting of pain still, as I type this post. Incredible. Since the word is prudence, I'm skipping caffeine and alcohol for 7 days. In addition to the antibiotics, taking one more dose of painkiller tomorrow wouldn't hurt.
That 120mg of Arcoxia per day is really something.
2 comments:
Like you, I too heard many horror stories about wisdom tooth extraction. However, when I removed mine, it didn't hurt at all. I stopped taking painkillers the next morning. The only time it hurt was when the stitches were loosening and pulling against my gums. I was blessed to have been assigned to a skilled surgeon at KTPH.
JT: wonderful for you too! I'm liking this batch of oral surgeons. Hearing more positive stories of late. I'm chicken! Still no pain, but considering popping a third painkiller today, and be done with it.
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