Losing Wisdom

I have a bone to pick with whoever it was that decided we needed to have wisdom teeth. Why would we have teeth come in that more than 90% of the time need to be removed? And why make them so that they become more difficult to remove as we get older? And why make a tooth that will decay even if it hasn't come in and isn't really exposed to anything damaging?

So I had to have a wisdom tooth, my last one, surgically removed last Thursday. It was my last one and the one that hadn't ever broken through. I have been putting it off for years, having been told by a former dentist to wait until it came in. Well, that wasn't the best advice.

So after going through the painful process of being numbed - I hate the shot in the roof of my mouth - it began. Only for the dentist to tell me that he was having problems getting a hold of it because it was the consistency of cookie dough from the decay. After some very uncomfortable pulling, yanking, and pushing, the decision was made to bring out the big guns. He ended up breaking the tooth into pieces to remove it. I kind of wish he'd have done that to start with. It would have been a much quicker process. So one wisdom tooth and the wisdom that came with it later....I got home, the numbness started to wear off, and the pain set in. Even taking prescription painkillers barely took the edge off the pain. I spent all day in bed just trying not to cry. I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but I had already been through a sore jaw from a cleaning and a couple of fillings the week prior. My mouth had taken all it could.

So I'm a few days post surgery, and my mouth is still a little swollen and sore. I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever be able to brush my teeth without my gums bleeding near the extraction site.

But at least I will never have to have another tooth surgically extracted from below the gums ever again. Just don't be surprised if I'm a little slower than I used to be. I just lost my last bit of "wisdom"!