Torture part 2 (Warning, graphic imagery of extracted tooth ahead!)

 

So it's been a week since I had my troublesome tooth extracted. Something I hadn't really expected to happen this year (as my dentist wholeheartedly assured me I'd "Never lose a tooth under her watch").

The pain from the abscess became too much to bear and despite the promise of root canal work, I couldn't stand the pain any longer - and had to have the bastard extracted. 

To be fair to the other dentist who did the work, he did an excellent job and the discomfort was minimalised. Nothing quite prepares you for the weird push and pull you experience when you're having a back tooth extracted, and I swear I'll never get used to the feeling of being 'numbed up' (having my gums and lips feel like they belonged to someone else is never great, nor is trying to talk when there's a gorgeous nurse in the room looking at you with a mixture of pity and disgust. 

But look at this bastard. 

Yeah it looks pretty dinged up, mostly from the extraction but those roots could serve as a camera tripod!!

At the tips of the roots you can just about make out the infection which was the cause of all the trouble and what had shown up on the X-Rays as a dark stain. 

I'm surprised I was calm enough - and conscious enough to hold the tooth up and take a photo of it, tbh. 

So for a week now I've lived with a gap which - in the first couple of days - was horribly sensitive and I couldn't bear to go anywhere near it with my tongue. But as it's calmed down and as the swelling in my jaw has subsided, I'm almost getting used to not having something there. 

The eventual plan is to have an implant - something that will cost more than my car is worth at the moment! I can think of better things to spend the money on, but I don't think I'd be able to live with such a massive gap at the back of my mouth, and as careful as I am to always eat on one side I'm painfully aware of the stress and strain this is probably putting on the other side of my mouth. A bridge is out of the question because my tooth are misaligned, and the wisdom tooth that was just behind the extracted one is at a rather jaunty angle not fit to add a bridge too. 

False teeth? Yeah I could go down that route but I'd hate having to manage a false tooth on a daily basis, and I'd probably end up accidentally swallowing the bloody thing or losing it, or just getting fed up with it and hurling it into the sea. 

So we'll see what happens over the next few months. Thankfully the gap is far enough back that it can't be seen unless I engage in a hearty wide-mouthed laugh (something i don't do often enough) but I am determined to get my gob back in shape one way or another.