Well, I’m back from my overseas trip, which was brilliant. I may post more about it later, but the purpose of this post is to indulge in some self-pity.

My orthodontic treatment has officially started, with a tooth extraction today. I’d never had any injections at the dentist before, so I’ve been feeling pretty worried about it, not knowing what to expect. Everyone has said that it won’t be that bad, and I won’t feel anything, but no matter how much people try to reassure you, it still doesn’t entirely calm the nerves.

I had to fill out a form at the dentist, and one of the questions was ‘Are you feeling anxious about receiving dental treatment?’ I put ‘yes’, because I thought they might give me some extra-powerful drugs or something :D The dentist was really nice, and I think he was especially nice because I answered ‘yes’ to that question. He explained what was going to happen, and then started. I guess none of this will be news to you if you’ve had dental work done, but the injections were ok. They stung a bit but they weren’t too bad. After that, he made some small talk, which I thought was partially to make sure I wasn’t going to freak out and bolt from the room, and partially to be able to tell how well the anaesthetic was working. The fact that I could hardly talk probably proved that it was doing its job.

So then he started the extraction, and soon after he started I heard and felt a snap. Ugh. He kept poking and digging around, and used the drill at one point, and had to put a stitch in at the end. Afterwards he explained the roots had snapped so he had to dig them out individually, hence the need for the stitch. He gave me a prescription for some antibiotics and gave me a rundown of instructions, and that was that. Fortunately, M was with me and he went in and got my drugs while I waited in the car, and I’m sitting here now with half of my face numb, having had my first drug cocktail, and waiting for the numbness to wear off (and the pain to set in).

So, all in all the extraction was ok (but the dentist said there wouldn’t have been quite so much digging around required if it had been done when I was younger), but it made me grateful that I had a general anaesthetic when I had my 4 wisdom teeth out - sitting through one of those was bad enough, but three more wouldn’t have been pleasant!