I had my tooth pulled today. It was something that I dreaded since making the appointment last week. You see, I saw a dentist about a month ago, because my top left front tooth was loose. After an x-ray, he told me that I needed to see a Periodontist, because it looked like a lot of bone mass had been lost due to periodontal disease.
A couple of weeks ago, I went to the hospital to see the Periodontist. I saw one doctor, who referred me to another doctor, on that same day, who referred me to another doctor the next week. Then, last week I saw the fourth doctor in the cavalcade of tooth examiners, who happened to be the Chief Periodontist.
I saw one doctor, who referred me to another doctor, on that same day, who referred me to another doctor the next week. Then, last week I saw the fourth doctor in the cavalcade of tooth examiners, who happened to be the Chief Periodontist. Because he was the chief, I felt that would be the end to switching of doctors. I was wrong. He said I would have to have my tooth extracted and that would be done by yet another doctor.
Today, I went and had a mold initiated of my teeth (both upper and lower, strangely) by another doctor. Then, I saw the tooth-extractor doctor. When I asked her what her title was, she said, “Resident specialist”. This vague response to my query made me even more nervous than I already was. You have to understand that I abhor pain. Yes, everyone does, but I really abhor pain. To me, a paper cut is like having an appendage severed. Yes, I’m a baby. With every doctor I saw, I asked if there was any way that the bone could grow back and my tooth could remain in my head. They all concurred that there was not and that it would have to be removed.
Luckily, I insisted that gas be used before the local anesthesia injection, because I still felt a lot of pain during the procedure. The gas was administered by yet another doctor, some sort of other chief as I recall. She was nice. The tooth-extractor doctor was not. I didn’t feel pain during the actual extraction, but there was some sort of scraping or probing she did afterwards that hurt like hell. She was very bland in her handling of me, never once reassuring me of anything. I wanted to grab her, to let her know I was in pain (I wonder if anyone has ever done that), but I kept my fingers clenched tightly together and endured it.
Now, I have another appointment next Monday. The temporary fake tooth will be put in and I will have to wear it for two or three months before a permanent one can be fitted. All of this done by even more doctors, of course.