Wisdom tooth....

I haven’t been to my dentist for years…haha...as if I have my ‘own’ dentist. In fact, I don’t have any particular dentist that I would go to. I will go to any dentist….and only if I got tooth ache. That’s what I am suffering at this moment….sakit gigi…sakit gigi…sakit gigi!!!!

It started a few weeks ago…but it is far more than settled. Appointment after appointment….make me feel like ‘let it be’…..but afraid that it will get worse if I just ignore it. But it’s so hard to cure dental problem here. In times like this, I feel like flying back to Malaysia…just to get this tooth removed. Good idea, eh???

Why do I say appointment after appointment?? Here goes:

1st – My pain started around end of November. Don’t know why. But it’s the kind of pain that makes you feel grumpy, with headache, can’t sleep, and can’t eat. I went to University Health to diagnose the problem. But have to wait for another week for a dental appointment. In the meantime, was given some pain killer…to ‘kill the pain’ perhaps. But it wasn’t so efficient. Some friends recommended the use of salt-water…it works for a few hours, and then the pain is back.

2nd – My first appointment with the dentist @ University Health. After I waited for almost a week, I got to see the dentist….yeay…that’s what I think. He only saw me for a few minutes, and asked me to go somewhere else for an x-ray. Which is….another appointment to set up? Fine….if that’s the procedure, I would just follow….

3rd – My x-ray appointment, was somewhere at Remuera Rd. Which is not so far, but with this pain…everything feels harder than it should. Again, less than an hour meeting. Some sort of scanning was done, where you put your face on the border and the machine circled your head. Tada….got my x-ray…..and it looks ‘NASTY’. That’s what the dentist said.

4th – Back to dentist @ University Health, where I not-so-proudly shown him the x-ray. He agreed when I say “it’s bad, eh??”. He said :
“it’s a big tooth, but most of it is covered by bones. So, only a small part came out and can be seen. To remove this tooth, we may have to cut your gums to enable access to the tooth. Or we may cut the tooth into two, where we can remove half, and then another half. But two things you must know :
1) Even after removal of the wisdom tooth, you may still feel the pain. Because you have another tooth nearby, which is coated, but there are dental caries underneath the coating. This could be another reason for the pain, in addition to your wisdom teeth.
2) The root of the wisdom teeth is so near to ‘something ( I forgot the terms)’ – in which it might be affected during the removal of the wisdom tooth. If it happens, you may lose your ‘SENSATION (????). Sometimes it’s for a day or two, sometimes month…but sometimes for the rest of your life >>>> what does that mean: I WON”T FEEL ANYTHING ON THAT SIDE OF MY MOUTH????????
He continues saying :
“By the way, I can’t do this because I will be on holiday, until January the 12th. It’s up to you, whether to wait for me until the 12th….or I can refer you to an oral surgeon. I will send this x-ray to them, and they will call you for an APPOINTMENT”.

So, here I am…..just came back from seeing the dentist….feeling grumpy because:
1) Not sooo looking forward for another 2 appointments: 1 consultation with the referred oral surgeon. Another 1 with the surgeon/dentist at University Health, whoever I choose to do the honour of removing my wisdom tooth.
2) Not soooo loking forward for the cost which is now accumulated to NZD 145 – 40 for the consultation, and 105 for the x-ray. Estimated future cost –
· consultation with the oral surgeon – don’t know
· cost of removal – NZD 516 if I choose to do it with the dentist @ University and more than that if I choose the oral surgeon.
And, don’t know whether any of these can be claimed from insurance or not……
3) not soooo looking forward for the dental surgery itself, because :
· I hate lying in the ‘dental chair’
· I hate the sound of ‘dental equipment’
· I hate the smell of ‘dental operation room’
· I hate looking at the x-ray of my teeth….
· I hate having the feeling that the dentist hates me since I am not good in taking care of my teeth…..eventhough I know that dentists are the most soft-spoken person on earth (except the one I know back in terengganu….).
4) Been here and there, done this and that, but nothing relieve me from this pain!!!!

And the most important thing……sakit gigi is sooooo distracting. Like right now….I should be doing my data collection…ended up writing down my misery……waaaa…..nak balik Malaysia cabut gigi!!!!!