That was my adopted nickname for two days after I got my tooth pulled and there are some valuable life lessons to be learned from the story I am about to tell you.
Lesson #1: Brush AND floss your teeth daily.
I am sure this all began back about ten or so years ago when I first got a couple of fillings in my teeth because of cavities. Laziness would get the better of me and I allowed my teeth to go unbrushed many a night. The mind of a fourteen-year-old Jessica thinks that the only reason one should brush their teeth is to get rid of bad breath. And no one talks to me when I'm sleeping so it shouldn't matter right? Well the dentist told me I was wrong and I am now reminded with an unpleasant tingling sensation whenever cold food or drink lingers on the filled teeth in my mouth.
Lesson #2: Go to the dentist at least once yearly.
Dentist appointments were always booked by my mother. Every six months I would go to get my teeth inspected and cleaned. Then I turned 18 and was told to book my own appointments. Now, if given the choice, I would not choose to go to the dentist. I find the whole experience quite disturbing as they scrape away at your teeth (supposedly there's plaque) and then rip and tear at your gums with dental floss and tell you that you've been doing it wrong. Am I supposed to brush until it hurts and make my gums bleed? If so then of course I've been doing it wrong and will continue to do so! Anyways I finally made my appointment after five or so years of neglect and, once again, they discovered a cavity. I wasn't surprised and I got it filled a week later.
Lesson #3: Ask questions to save money.
Since I wasn't covered by insurance, I paid about $500 for both my cleaning appointment and the filling that followed. I didn't mind paying because it was absolutely necessary to take care of these things but, had I known that I didn't have coverage, I might have waited until the New Year to book my appointments. Now I wish I had waited. Just a week before Christmas I began to experience a terrible toothache. I assumed it was my wisdom teeth coming in a bit more as they have ached a bit in the past so I resorted to taking all of the pain medication (naproxen, ibuprofen, acetaminophen) and using Orajel to numb my gums and relieve my discomfort. The night before Christmas Eve I discovered that the gums around the tooth that I had gotten filled most recently ached the most. Instinctively, I spread a fair amount of Orajel around the tooth and accidentally got some on it. Instant excruciating pain throbbed in my mouth and I realized that my wisdom teeth had nothing to do with the pain after all. If I had asked my dentist what he thought I should do with the tooth prior to getting it filled, pulling it would have cost me approximately only $150 rather than a $250 filling that eventually backfired.
Lesson #4: Pray always.
The pain was so horrible that I was in tears and close to asking my mom to take me to the emergency room. As I laid my face on an ice pack and pressed on the tooth with my fingers repeatedly to temporarily relieve some of the pain, I thought of what I could do. I researched emergency dental clinics and found that none of them were open until the next morning. Then I considered grabbing pliers and pulling the tooth out myself but that thought quickly dissolved. What should have been my first resort turned out to be my third. I cried out to God and asked Him to take away my pain. I asked specifically for the pain to be relieved enough so that I could get a decent sleep and make it to the dentist.
Lesson #5: Praise the Lord!
I finished praying at around 1am and then woke up at 7:15am. God had answered my prayer in my favour. I found it particularly amazing that, though I distinctly remember setting my alarm for 5:30am, God woke me up at 7:15am which gave me just enough sleep to feel decent and just enough time to get to work. I also noticed that my toothache was very minimal and bearable to the point that I almost did not phone the dentist. I decided that, since I wanted to eat Christmas dinner the next day, that I should probably book an appointment to get the tooth dealt with ASAP. To make a longer story shorter, I was able to book an emergency appointment, got my tooth pulled, and was able to eat Christmas dinner without any pain.
Lesson #1: Brush AND floss your teeth daily.
I am sure this all began back about ten or so years ago when I first got a couple of fillings in my teeth because of cavities. Laziness would get the better of me and I allowed my teeth to go unbrushed many a night. The mind of a fourteen-year-old Jessica thinks that the only reason one should brush their teeth is to get rid of bad breath. And no one talks to me when I'm sleeping so it shouldn't matter right? Well the dentist told me I was wrong and I am now reminded with an unpleasant tingling sensation whenever cold food or drink lingers on the filled teeth in my mouth.
Lesson #2: Go to the dentist at least once yearly.
Dentist appointments were always booked by my mother. Every six months I would go to get my teeth inspected and cleaned. Then I turned 18 and was told to book my own appointments. Now, if given the choice, I would not choose to go to the dentist. I find the whole experience quite disturbing as they scrape away at your teeth (supposedly there's plaque) and then rip and tear at your gums with dental floss and tell you that you've been doing it wrong. Am I supposed to brush until it hurts and make my gums bleed? If so then of course I've been doing it wrong and will continue to do so! Anyways I finally made my appointment after five or so years of neglect and, once again, they discovered a cavity. I wasn't surprised and I got it filled a week later.
Lesson #3: Ask questions to save money.
Since I wasn't covered by insurance, I paid about $500 for both my cleaning appointment and the filling that followed. I didn't mind paying because it was absolutely necessary to take care of these things but, had I known that I didn't have coverage, I might have waited until the New Year to book my appointments. Now I wish I had waited. Just a week before Christmas I began to experience a terrible toothache. I assumed it was my wisdom teeth coming in a bit more as they have ached a bit in the past so I resorted to taking all of the pain medication (naproxen, ibuprofen, acetaminophen) and using Orajel to numb my gums and relieve my discomfort. The night before Christmas Eve I discovered that the gums around the tooth that I had gotten filled most recently ached the most. Instinctively, I spread a fair amount of Orajel around the tooth and accidentally got some on it. Instant excruciating pain throbbed in my mouth and I realized that my wisdom teeth had nothing to do with the pain after all. If I had asked my dentist what he thought I should do with the tooth prior to getting it filled, pulling it would have cost me approximately only $150 rather than a $250 filling that eventually backfired.
Lesson #4: Pray always.
The pain was so horrible that I was in tears and close to asking my mom to take me to the emergency room. As I laid my face on an ice pack and pressed on the tooth with my fingers repeatedly to temporarily relieve some of the pain, I thought of what I could do. I researched emergency dental clinics and found that none of them were open until the next morning. Then I considered grabbing pliers and pulling the tooth out myself but that thought quickly dissolved. What should have been my first resort turned out to be my third. I cried out to God and asked Him to take away my pain. I asked specifically for the pain to be relieved enough so that I could get a decent sleep and make it to the dentist.
Lesson #5: Praise the Lord!
I finished praying at around 1am and then woke up at 7:15am. God had answered my prayer in my favour. I found it particularly amazing that, though I distinctly remember setting my alarm for 5:30am, God woke me up at 7:15am which gave me just enough sleep to feel decent and just enough time to get to work. I also noticed that my toothache was very minimal and bearable to the point that I almost did not phone the dentist. I decided that, since I wanted to eat Christmas dinner the next day, that I should probably book an appointment to get the tooth dealt with ASAP. To make a longer story shorter, I was able to book an emergency appointment, got my tooth pulled, and was able to eat Christmas dinner without any pain.
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