The Whole Tooth and Nothing But The Tooth

The Whole Tooth and Nothing But The Tooth was Originally Posted on April 16, 2014 by lavarock

A while back I chipped a molar (the 2nd bicuspid for those who tracking such things). It only started to bother me recently and when I pressed the tooth towards the gum, I got pain. Then I got a gum boil. That really caused problems and I thought I would not make it through the weekend.

I was able to schedule a dental appointment today (Tuesday) and with great trepidation I arrived for the appointment. I updated the staff about my recent heart issues and the fact that 3 days after my last extraction there, my systolic blood pressure hit 200 in the emergency room.

I stopped taking the low dose aspirin the other day but kept up on all other medications. This change was approved by my healthcare people after the fact.

There are 4 types of anesthesia that the dentist uses and I asked for one with no epinephrine or vasodilator in it. That and other similar medicines are used to make the Novocaine last longer in the body, but it also causes that heart race and palpitation people feel. because of blood pressure issues, we opted to use the straight Novocaine, which would only last a short time. He injected a number of small injections and I was pretty well numb when he started. THEN as the tooth began to come out, I felt pain. He stopped and gave me another little shot and tried again. More pain was felt. We finally agreed to give me one of the shots with the vasodilator in it. When he was ready to make the last pull or two, I still felt pain but just grabbed the arm rest and let him go for it. There was still pain, but it disappeared soon thereafter. A side issue of the injections was that the left side of my face was really numb, so much so that even my left eye felt a bit numb.

He called in a painkiller to Walmart for me, it being Vicodin with acetaminophen. With the pain during extraction, it seemed obvious I would be in lots of pain when the Novocaine wears off. I got to Walmart and there was an hour wait. I could feel my face start to get less numb and hoped I could get the meds before the pain kicked in.

If I was a Pharmacist and wanted to best serve my customers, I would change things a bit. It appears that if you call a prescription in, Walmart will quote you a ready time hours in the future and they appear to serve customers in line faster. That is great but I would also expedite a pain killer called in by a Dentist above most of the other orders. This is because the Novocaine the patient was given will only last a short while and the pain medicine may be needed almost immediately when the patient gets to the Pharmacy.

So it happened that I got the pain killer and was warned not to take it and drive and to take it with food. Of course, I’m not supposed to eat “food” for quite a few hours and stopped for yoghurt and fruit juice to take me through the day. You can imagine that I am starved at the moment and still will need to eat soft foods like mashed potatoes and soup for the next day or so. Oh if someone would invent a turkey I.V. injection!

As the day progressed, I decided to finally take one of the Vicodin but since I was not in a lot of pain yet, I took 1/2. About 4 hours later I took another 1/2. The Novocaine has worn off and I am so far, not in pain. I am as amazed and you are that since I was in pain even after the injections, that I should be in pain and popping pills like Dr. House at the moment. Time will tell. If I can make it through the night with no pain, then I have conquered my own Mt. Everest.

I am slightly concerned since my operation because as expected, I lost a bit of weight, but I am still down a bit more the past few weeks. I also have been sick to my stomach about 4 times in the past month. I attribute that to the boil on my gum with the associated pain from it and my lack of appetite recently. If that continues any longer I’ll have to get get a test to make sure I have no other health problems. My weight before the operation was 166 and now I’m at 149. I was at the top end of acceptable weight for my height, so I guess it is not a problem as long as it stops

Just so you know, I think I had more pain from the tooth than I did from the heart operation. Then again, I’m sure they put some “happy juice” in my I.V. for that one.