The following post is by Abbey, the toothless wonder. :)
A couple of weeks ago, I was not pleased when I was standing at the front desk of the orthodontist office because they were telling me that I was going to get four teeth pulled, two on each side of my upper mouth. I was speechless. This would not do. I had already gotten an expander, gone through some retainers, and had four braces on my front teeth. I knew that eventually I would get a full mouth of braces, like, in a few years. The orthodontist hadn't said anything about this. I was determined NOT to let this happen.
Well, my plan failed. I say this because over spring break, while half of the town was in Florida getting a nice tan and going to the new Harry Potter theme park, I found myself bound to a chair, with a chain saw drifting over my head, and cackling voices in the background. No, just kidding abut the whole chain saw thing. But, Tuesday, at around noon, I was sitting in a chair in a dentist room. Two women were there, and they were going to take two of my teeth. The other two would be done later. They never actually said that they were pulling teeth, they just said they were going to remove some baby teeth, and that they did this all the time.
I will now describe my painful, tingly, bloody, and honey tasting experience to you.
1.They numbed the spots around two of my teeth; the numbing stuff tasted like honey.
2.Then they had to let it sit for a while. This is where I was beginning to think that they would pull the teeth really soon, and it would be over in minutes. But of course, the worst was yet to come.
3. After about five minutes, while I was staring at the poster of some mountains and a seal tacked to the ceiling (by the way, I was seated in a chair that was tipped back and I think every room there has posters on the ceiling, even though they have nothing to do with teeth), the ladies told me to relax my mouth, open my jaw, and close my eyes. I knew then that this wouldn't be good.
4. Hey, I was right! As I was taking the only advice mom and dad had given me, ('Just shut your eyes, Abbey, you'll be fine!'), they began to stick some thing in my jaw. I was blinded by the big light over my head, so I just went with it. Now, I really, thought that they were pulling out the teeth. But soon, my feet were shaking, and I knew what was going on: A giant needle was being stabbed into my gum. This was why they had numbed me with that honey stuff. This was only the beginning.
5. As she pulled the needle out from my mouth for the second time, I could only feel the tingly sensation that was spreading through my upper jaw. After a few minutes, she took a screw driver looking thing and started poking the teeth that she was going to pull. I didn't think that the teeth were loose, but apparently, they were loose enough.
6. Finally, it was time to pull the teeth. I was trying very hard to keep my feet still, but they kept on going. In the beginning of this tale of misery, one of the ladies had offered to let me squeeze her hand. She had also said to raise my left hand if it hurt. But I had to squeeze with my left hand too...hhhmmm... Anyway, the other lady whose hand I wasn't squeezing, but I wish I could have, pulled out something from her selection of pointy, shiny, objects. She pulled out what looked like a small clamp. Then she told me that I would hear some cracking! By this time, I didn't even care what I heard. If it meant it was going to be over, then I was all for it. So, she clamped down on my teeth, and twisted and pulled. It was really painful, even though they numbed my mouth. After both teeth were out, they gave me some soft cotton-like stuff to put where my teeth would have been, to stop some blood.
In the end, everything puts me closer to braces, and later on, a nice pretty smile. :) I also got a cool pen, and some silly bands. I'm not going to say that it was all good, because my lip was tingly for the rest of the afternoon, and I had a headache of most of that time, too. I guess, just for you, reader, I could put at the end of my story what everybody, at some point in their lives, wishes:
Everything was okay.
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See what happens when we evolve away from our australopithecine ancestry? Our brains grow big, we cook our food to make it less chewy, our jaws shrink, our teeth get crowded, and the next thing we know, we're in the chair and they're telling us that we'll hear some cracking.
ReplyDeleteDid they give you the teeth to take home and put under your pillow? When I had my wisdom teeth removed, I wanted to keep them but I was too sedated to ask for them at the time. My orthodontist also had posters above each chair. Some were 'inspirational' phrases, some were scenery, one was a cutesy, country-kitchen type goose. I seemed to spend most of my appointments under the goose.
ReplyDeleteAbbey said they gave her a box that contained her teeth without even asking if she wanted them. Abbey, however, has never in her life left a tooth under her pillow. She tells me that her long-term plan is to wait until she has lost all of her baby teeth, and then put them under he pillow all at once, hoping for a larger sum of money because she's offered the full set.
ReplyDeleteWay to plan ahead, Abbey!
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