It was a Sunday. I was due to fly off-shore the following morning. But before that, there was a staff vs students soccer game at the school that Caroline was teaching at. I played to bring up the numbers on the faculty side of the game.
During the game, I started to notice a disturbing trend. When I headed the ball, it felt like one of my fillings was jarring loose, or wobbling around in its socket. As the day progressed, it started to worry me more and more, mainly because I was about to head out to the middle of the South China Sea for a couple of months with nary a dentist in sight.
After we’d eaten dinner and it was still bugging me, I decided that I should try and do something about it. And of course 8pm on a Sunday is a great time to try and get into the dentist. I went through the phone book and finally managed to get a dentist that would open up for me ... for the measly sum of $200 (plus whatever treatment they would provide).
I ventured in there and explained my situation, that I was leaving first thing in the morning, that I wouldn’t be back for about 2 months and so I wanted to know what was going on with my tooth. So after taking a look and not being able to find anything, the lady said that she’d need to take x-rays, so x-rays were taken. Then she came out and happily told me that she’d be able to view them tomorrow. Quietly and calmly (well almost) I reminded her of the fact that I had already told her that I was leaving first thing in the morning and that I wouldn’t be there to view them tomorrow.
She had a bit of a think and presented me with 2 options. She could give me some painkillers and hope that things went away, or she could take the nerve out. Now is it just me, or are those two options just ever so slightly diametrically opposed to one another?
I nearly shat myself at that the time and decided to go with the option that didn’t involve tearing into my mouth late at night at least until I was absolutely sure that it was actually the best option for me to take. Besides, I’d been told that a severe toothache is actually not a bad way to get some time off of the barge. I wasn’t keen that as a back up plan though and opted for a course of painkillers!
We left the surgery and Caroline suggested that perhaps we should call her friend back home who was at the time in the latter stages of studying dentistry. I was all for a bit more information. After a couple of quick questions, she asked exactly the right one. Did I have any sinus trouble. As it turned out I did at the time and it was suggested that referred pain from sinus trouble could result in the sort of sensation
More importantly, she referred to the fact that a nerve removal procedure should be done over a period of two visits, spaced something like 2 weeks apart. The thought of what might have happened in my mouth had I opted to go with ‘just rip it out’ quite frankly sets my bladder quivering!
I was very relieved when my sinus trouble cleared up a week later to note that my tooth was in fact fine!f
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