:eek:Warning!: If you’re disturbed by graphic descriptions of oral surgery… read no further!:eek:
I’m 43. Last year, my dentist here in Japan extracted my final remaining wisdom tooth.
My lower left wisdom tooth had never surfaced. In fact, it had stopped growing altogether (with only a crown, no roots had ever formed), and was sitting on its side, pointing at a slightly outward angle (towards my left cheek), deep in my jawbone.
My dentist showed me the X-ray, and recommended that the tooth come out within six months. I made my appointment for the following month.
First, I received lots of local anaesthetic. This guy is so great! I have never even felt it when he gives me that injection of Novocaine or Procaine or whatever! Then, he had to cut and peel away my gums to expose my jawbone. I felt no pain, but I could hear the meat being scraped off the bone… sssscrape scrape!
Next, he drilled four or five holes into my jawbone, and then used a tiny chisel to expose the buried tooth. He had to drill the tooth into three pieces for extraction. Finally, he sutured the incision in my gums.
The entire process took 15 minutes.
He showed me the bits of wisdom tooth he had removed. They were brown. I’m talking paper bag brown. He told me the tooth had died a while ago, and if it had remained much longer, the necrosis would have spread to my jawbone. Neither of my dentists in the US had ever mentioned anything about this tooth.
Though conscious, I felt no pain at all during the entire operation. My dentist had warned me, however, that I would be hurting for the next day or two when the anaethesia wore off, so I had taken two personal days from work to recover. His prediction was correct. For the next two days, I felt like a truck had hit the left side of my face.
My dentist is GREAT!