贝 had taken half-day off from work on that day to visit his company-appointed dentist as well. Over the late lunch, he told me that he could understand why i was nervous in my earlier visit to the dentist, for he felt the same too even though he was there for the scaling and polishing only. We agreed that there was something about the dentist chair that sets people into panic mode. The chair just lays there in the middle of the consultation room staring right at us. Once we sit on it, we will be at the mercy of the dentist who has total control over what happens next. It's pretty much like the electrical chair in the middle of the death chamber. It's not really about the chair, but the associated fear that comes with the chair. You know, the fear of powerlessness and the torture that was about to befall us.
So as i was munching the Chicken Fan-tastic burger, i could still feel the butterflies in my stomach. The rice burger was tasty i'm sure, but my mind was occupied by all the scary thoughts of the surgery and i didn't really enjoy it very much.
We arrived at the dental clinic about 10 minutes before the time of my appointment, and was asked to wait outside the consultation room. While we were sitting there waiting for my name to be called, i could hear the clanking sound from the consultation room, as the dentist was preparing the surgical instruments for my operation. The longer i waited and the more i listened, the butterflies in my stomach fluttered even more wildly. That was akin to the signature tune of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (cue "yeek yeek yeek yeek..."), you know, when all the suspense was building up for the final thrill.
After a gruelling wait that felt like forever, the door to the
Ok, i've long established that i'm almost algophobic and i'm not good in handling physical pain. I've never gone under the knife before; in fact, i've never had any tooth extraction before either. I couldn't imagine what kind of pain level that i was gonna endure, and all the stories from my colleagues and the Web had sure made me even more frightened of this minor oral surgery. So you see, sometimes having too much information may not be a good thing too.
I didn't run away of course. I went into the consultation room and saw the dentist was all set for the operation. She asked me to relax (ya sure, as if i could do that), and sit on the
Before the operation started, she told me that she would have to go through with me the risks of the surgery, and i gotta sign the consent form. Oookaaay, so telling me all these when i was already on that chair? And as if i have a choice to NOT sign the consent form and still go through with the operation? So was an obligatory consent a genuine consent?
Anyway, after we had all the pre-surgical formalities out of the way, she asked me if i was removing both the upper and lower wisdom teeth at the same time. I reminded her that during my last visit, she had advised me to remove the upper wisdom teeth, but i thought it wasn't really necessary. Then she checked my teeth again and told me that after removal of the lower wisdom tooth, the upper wisdom tooth would be just hanging there serving no function at all. She said it would then grow longer and longer until one day it would touch the lower gum. Here are the lousy illustrations i've done up (using my pen device) based on what she said:
The two wisdom teeth to be removed
What would happen if only the lower wisdom tooth was removed (huh?)
Uh huh, no kidding, that was what she told me. Frankly, i had my doubt, as i didn't know that our teeth would continue growing if there weren't another one at the opposite end to stop its growth. But then, there are many things that i don't know. And hey, she's the expert, so who am i to question her? I was already on that chair, so i'd better heed the expert advice.
In the end, i agreed to extract both the upper and lower wisdom teeth together on that day. The good news was that extraction of upper wisdom tooth isn't a surgical procedure but a normal tooth extraction procedure. The bad news was that normal tooth extraction isn't claimable under Medisave and it would cost me SGD100+ more. The dentist was very nice though. When she saw my hesitation in paying for the extra fee out of my own pocket, she said she would put the claims together and hopefully the CPF Board would approve it.
And so, everything was set. She first administered two local anesthetic injections each at my upper-right and lower-right gum. Before the injections, she told me that it would just be like ant bites. Well,when it comes to ant bites, i'd know better. And boy, i tell you, it was nothing like ant bite. It was more painful and less itchy. Hmm, or maybe she was referring to the bites of a different kind of ants. Or maybe bites on the gum and in between the breasts feel differently. Oh well, whatever.
While the anesthetic was slowly taking effect, she took an x-ray of my upper wisdom tooth, which wasn't done because i didn't plan to remove it until then. After she had confirmed with me that i could feel the numbness in the right side of my tongue, lip and cheek, the nerve-wrecking surgical procedure finally began.
I can't narrate clearly what happened during the half-an-hour operation. For the whole time, i kept my eyes shut, clasped my hands tightly, and continue quivering all over. All i could remember were the piercing drilling sound, the cracking sound, the forceful pressure on my jaw, and the water splashed all over my face. Uh huh, that clumsy nurse who was assisting the dentist with the operation couldn't handle the saline discharge tube properly and had the water sprinkled not only on me but the dentist too. Fortunately, the dentist didn't lose her cool, even though i heard stern instruction from her to the nurse to not press the button on the tube while the opening wasn't in my mouth.
So how did i know that the nurse sprinkled water on the dentist too if i had my eyes closed? Well, 贝 was with me the whole time during the operation. Of course he wasn't there holding my hands as if i was in a labour or what. He was sitting in a corner of the consultation room giving me mental support.
Or so i thought.
On our way home that day, 贝 remarked to me that my dentist was rather pretty but didn't have a good figure. So you see, while i was being slaughtered on that chair, my boyfriend was taking notice of how the dentist had a pretty face but stout unshapely figure. How reassuring that was. Some mental support that was. Hmph. Yet, actually after my first visit, i had told him too that my dentist was young and good looking. That probably explains why i was so scared, for i might have lesser faith in her. After all, comparing a young and beautiful female dentist to a grey-haired middle-aged male dentist, i would think the latter being more experienced in wisdom teeth removal surgery.
So back to the surgery, 贝 told me that from where he sat, he couldn't see much of what happened during the operation. The dentist had her back towards him, blocking his view most of the time. The scary thing was that he saw how she was trying very hard to pull out my teeth until her hand was shaking from using all her might. Ok, luckily i didn't see that, or else i would sure freak out. This proved what my colleague had told me about female dentist not having enough strength to extract the wisdom teeth.
When she was finally done with the operation, the dentist showed me the removed teeth, which i brought back home with me and took a picture of it. Click on the link below to see the photo, which is really bloody and gruesome. Don't say i never warn you.
Explicit disgusting pictures of my bloody wisdom teeth (PG18)
I was given some medication and a sheet of instructions on the dos and don'ts.
I gotta pay for the surgical fee (SGD500++) upfront to the clinic, and then they would file the claim for me to the CPF Board. Once approved, the reimbursement would be sent to me in cheque via post.
So, just like that, i survived my first ever surgery.
And here's a piece of good news: i lost 1.5kg of weight just in five days. Thanks to the soft diet! *burp*
