Fear-free dental! Come to Korea!

Well, I just got back from the dentist to have an urgently needed extraction of my bottom left wisdom tooth. Even though I had been to the dentist at home twice this year (including x-rays), I guess someone missed seeing that this tooth was completely horizontal and severely impacted against my other teeth.

I went with Rachel for her appointment on Saturday because she had just had a wisdom tooth removed and was getting a follow-up check. This tooth had been bothering me and was pushing through more and more every day it seemed like, so the dentist, who speaks decent English, took a look at it for me. By just shining a light in my mouth, she could see the problem.

They did an x-ray to see it in more detail. For those of you who go to the dentist regularly and have those painful and time-consuming picture x-rays taken where you have to bite on the thing that cuts into your mouth... There is a better way! Maybe they have this technology in the U.S. and I'm just not going to the right dentist. But all I had to do here was stand up in front of this thing, bite down (comfortably), and it scanned back and forth to make a digital image of my teeth.

And wow! There it was, this wayward tooth, very obviously in a bad, bad spot. So this morning I got my shots of novocaine and she went to work on it. The drilling and wrenching noises were terrible, but it took all of about 10 minutes. They had to cut the tooth into 4 big pieces and then down even smaller to get it all out.

Oh yes, I sound brave through all this, but I was terrified. When they were doing the initial drilling, I could feel it hitting a nerve ending, so I had to communicate with some squeaks, but then they gave me a little more anesthesia. It was bleeding quite a bit (she said hemorrhaging, but I don't think it was quite so bad), so they had to sew it up with stitches, but I get those checked out tomorrow and then taken out within a week.

I'm a little tired, but not in too terribly much pain at the moment. A little sore, of course, but no visible swelling. Hopefully when the numbness wears off I won't be crying for my mom too much! It was a little traumatic to be so far away, in an room full of a foreign language, without my family even knowing what was happening.

Either way, this dentist is my hero. She was so quick, gentle, and reassuring. She started me on a short course of antibiotics on Saturday, so I shouldn't have any problems with infection. Rachel and I asked her how much everything would cost, and she basically just kept saying, "No. You are Rachel's friend." I guess Rachel sends her a lot of referral business and has good insurance herself that pays for her dental work. Even though at most, without insurance, it would have cost the equivalent of $100.

I'm pretty amazed. If she won't take money from me, I don't think there's quite any way I can repay her for being so helpful. Of course, because of her amazing skills, I was wondering about the other 3 wisdom teeth, but she said they are not through the gum enough yet for her to take care of. But that will need to be done soon after I get home because the bottom one on the right is almost as horizontal as this one was. Boy do I dread going to the dentist in America now. I think I need a new one who actually looks at the x-rays!

Did I mention that I didn't even have to make an appointment to have this done and I waited barely 10 minutes to start the surgery? They even covered my eyes so I didn't have to see the tools coming at me and gave me a blanket for comfort.

Okay, I'll stop bragging. Feel free to defend your own American dentist. But I think they should all be sent to Korea before being allowed to poke and prod our mouths.

Next day update: Definitely swollen.
The following day: Still swollen but hopeful.