I wish I could thank you for all of the fish. That was my final thought directed towards my teeth as the IV sedation started to take effect last Thursday morning.

I’ve always taken good care of my teeth. Brushed several times a day. Wore retainers starting at age 6, moving along to braces at age 10 then back to retainers for 2 yrs at age 16. Had my wisdom teeth removed at the right time. Had cleanings twice a year. But it wasn’t enough to save them from the fate they met last week.

When you have a lifetime of health problems that effect your teeth, sometimes you just cannot continue the fight save them. Sometimes you reach a point where you’ve had enough oral pain and just want to finish it. So, after a lifetime of asthma, acid reflux, sinus & allergy problems, and 3 pregnancies spent vomiting from conception to birth and a bad habit of grinding teeth when angry instead of unleashing the verbal tirade of anger, I had several crumbled teeth, cracked teeth and bruised teeth. I elected to have them all removed.

Dentures in two weeks. The two weeks part surprised me. I thought I would have to wait at least 6 months but was assured that with the shaping and smoothing that the oral surgeon did, as soon as the swelling goes down and the pain is gone, I should get fitted for dentures to prevent and further shrinking of the jaw line.

Until last night I had the repeating thought of, “This isn’t hurting anywhere near as bad as they told me it would.” I called the oral surgeon’s office this morning and she said that my gums themselves didn’t reach maximum swelling potential until last night because my jaw had to be dislocated to prevent breaking it so the previous swelling and pain was from the dislocating and repositioning of my jaw into the joint. Supposedly it should be loads better tomorrow as long as I’m doing hot & cold compresses and the salt water rinses. Basically whatever feels the best and helps the swelling at this point.

Another thought occurred to me in the last 4 days… Whomever coined the phrase, “Beauty is pain,” had to have just been through a dental procedure. Either way that whole beauty part won’t come to fruition until I get the dentures. I can’t wait to have a pretty smile again.