When I saw the dentist about it he saw nothing wrong and could not find the route of the problem. He saw that I still had 2 wisdom teeth remaining and suggested they might be the source. I didn't do anything about it right away and lived with the pain for another year. Eventually the pain increased and one day it hurt so bad I realized I could no longer put off the inevitable and I made arrangements to have my wisdom teeth pulled.
The last time I had my wisdom teeth pulled was in college. I only get local anesthetic and I remember it being a violent and painful process. Finally when it was over I wrapped my mouth in gauze (I was bleeding a lot) and went home to rest. My cheek was swollen and I felt pretty awful. However, in the elevator ride down a girl actually started coming on to me. She kept on flirting and asking me questions and I simply could not pay attention. She must've thought I was playing hard to get, but I just wanted to get out of there! The next day a guy from school saw a post in the "missed connections" column of the local city paper from this girl looking for the shy architecture student she met in the elevator. Everyone knew it was me and my girlfriend at the time got really pissed off, thinking I was the one that was flirting!
Well, the next time was just as painful. The dentist actually dug his knee into my body to leverage out the tooth. One tooth was stubborn and wouldn't come out. I felt all the pain and I thought he was pulling my whole jaw out! As I moaned in pain they kept shooting me up with more anesthetic and finally had to break the tooth and pick out the pieces.
After a few days of healing I realized that the 2 wisdom teeth removed were not the source of the problem and my tooth still hurt! I get frustrated. More time goes by. Then, a few months ago as I'm eating cereal, a huge chunk of my back molar falls out. It kind of freaked me out at first, but then realized the pain was gone. I went back to the dentist and he told me I had to get a crown. But then I switched jobs and it took a while for my health insurance to kick in. A few months later with a broken tooth and I finally get it fixed. They file down the actual tooth to a little nub, then cover it with a temporary metal plate until the porcelain cap is ready. A few weeks later and I've got a new tooth! This has been a long time coming and I'm so glad to be able to eat freely again with no anxieties!!! I'm gonna go out and buy the crunchiest cereal in the aisle.
Left: temp metal cap, Right: the porcelain chomper
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