I'm Back--But Not Necessarily Better

The good thing about pain medication: it makes the pain go away. (Sometimes!)

The bad thing about pain medication: it makes the pain go away enough that you can focus on the fact that you actually agreed to go to the dentist you swore you'd never see again.

I know I gave you a link in my last post to the ordeal I went through two years ago when I last had a wisdom tooth pulled, but I was out of my head enough that I neglected to mention that particular story goes on for several days. After clicking the link, you need to click the "newer post" link at the bottom of each section of the story to read through the whole thing. But who wants to do that anyway?

The short version is this: two years ago I had a wisdom tooth pulled. The dentist numbed the wrong side of my mouth. Then he numbed the right side of my mouth multiple times. I ended up numb from my nose to my throat for the next eight hours. When the numbness finally wore off I discovered that, not only had I required stitches, but the dentist had accidentally sewn the inside of my cheek to my jaw. Obviously I would never darken the door of that man's office again.

Until this past Monday. Clearly pain makes me do strange things. I had the choice of finding another dentist and waiting however long until they had an opening, then getting a referral to an oral surgeon and waiting however long until they had an opening before getting the problem taken care of. Or I could call this dentist and get the offending tooth (teeth) pulled the next day. I chose expediency, and was rewarded with an immediate prescription for pain meds. Gotta love the good drugs.

Unfortunately, I didn't get good drugs. I got drugs that made me incredibly ill, and also took enough edge off the pain that I panicked at the thought that I had actually allowed myself to be talked into going back to this doctor. I was less than pleasant on Wednesday morning as I prepared for my appointment.

I think I had a right to be cranky edgy.

This time the dentist only numbed one side (the correct one), and pulled two teeth (the correct ones). No stitches were required, although there was a great deal of tugging and pulling and pressure and cracking and breaking before the teeth came out. Apparently I like my teeth and don't let go of them easily.

I spent the rest of the week alternating between the bed and the couch. I read quite a few books and I ate a lot of soup.

Now a week later, my schedule is back to normal. But I'm still occasionally swollen and still experiencing pain. I've been on antibiotics since the day before he pulled the teeth, and I don't have infection. I am a slow healer. I don't want to go back and see him for any reason, but am I this slow a healer?

I have no idea. What I do know is, I still have a right to be cranky edgy. So how long should I wait before pressing my luck and going back to see this guy?