Generally speaking I have very good teeth. I haven’t had a cavity in nearly 25 years (we won’t talk about my mouth full of fillings from childhood), I brush and floss regularly, and with the exception of some very unpleasant dental surgery about seven years ago, I go the dentist twice a year, get my cleanings and checkups, and call it a day.
Well, I had an … incident … about two months ago, and it just hasn’t resoled. I’m not sure how I did it, but one night I was brushing my teeth, andGenerally speaking I have very good teeth. I haven’t had a cavity in nearly 25 years (we won’t talk about my mouth full of fillings from childhood), I brush and floss regularly, and with the exception of some very unpleasant dental surgery about seven years ago, I go the dentist twice a year, get my cleanings and checkups, and call it a day.
Well, I had an … incident … about two months ago, and it just hasn’t resoled. I’m not sure how I did it, but one night I was brushing my teeth, and my hand was wet. So I slipped, and quite by accident, I managed to jam the tip of the toothbrush right into my lower left gum. Holy crap that hurt. I tore away some skin, and had some bleeding. The initial soreness went away after a few days, but it took a while for the swelling to go down. But it did.
And then it came back. And then it went away. And then it came back. And so on.
Realizing something was wrong, I finally went to the dentist the other day, and he immediately could see that there was a problem. As I suspected, the gum line got infected somewhere during the initial injury, and it could never quite heal.
The dentist said he could clean out the wound in like five minutes, no problem, and gave me the option of Novocaine. He wasn’t sure if I’d need it, but since the area was sore anyway, it was something to think about. Hell yes, I said. Gimme the drugs.
Let me say. Best. Decision. Ever.
The Novocaine was so strong that my left earlobe went numb! I couldn’t feel a thing. And good thing, because he was drilling and scrapping and lord knows what else. Those would have been the worst five minutes ever. Forget waterboarding. The dentist hast the real torture power if he wants to.
It’s been two days and the soreness is mostly gone, but however long it takes to completely heal, all I know is this. Novocaine is gooooooood.
