Hello ladies
I thought I would tell you the story of my afternoon and how an unexpected event made me feel really old but much better at the same time.
I am 63 now and one day when I was 26 I noticed that one side of my face was a little swollen. I assumed I had slept awkwardly but the next day the swelling had increased and my left eye was beginning to close. My GP said it was a dental problem and sure enough I was diagnosed with an absyss in my gum. The dentist drained the infection but said I also had an impacted tooth, this tooth had never erupted out of my gum and was surrounded by the nerves and roots of the tooth that had descended. Extracting the embedded tooth was too difficult for the dentist so it would need to be extracted under general anaesthetic. I was quickly referred to my local hospital and the operation was a success. After an overnight stay I was discharged and attended an outpatient's appointment there months later. All good so far.
Over the years I occasionally noticed that my gum was a little tender in the area that had been operated on but it wasn't much of a problem. I sometimes wondered if I was developing another absyss though as the hospital had explained that the hole inside my gum where the impacted tooth had been removed might fill with debris and become inflamed. However I wasn't too concerned and I recalled that even the first absyss hadn't been painful, infact it could have been there for ages before causing my face to swell.
About a year ago I noticed more tenderness which came and went but my recent virus made my throat and ears sore and the gum was beginning to hurt more often. I saw my dentist two weeks ago and X rays showed that the molar in that area had one filled root but the other root hadn't and had an odd bulging shape.
Today I had my dental appointment for an investigation and probable root filing. As expected one root had been properly filled but the oddly shaped one contained a cotton wool plug likely used during the operation back in the eighties. When it was removed it came out in one piece and was the size of a finger nail. I'm told it would not have caused any problems but it took the dentist a long time to clean out the root and it bled quite a lot. I wonder if my gum has been infected for all this time? Do you think it's too late to sue the hospital lol.
I'm probably imagining it but I feel better without all that gunk trapped in my gum. The part of the whole procedure that made me feel old was when I told the dentist that the cotton wool had been there for thirty seven years and he said that was as long as he's been alive!
Thanks for reading this saga ladies and I hope you never have any unwelcome surprises at your next dental appointment.
Wishing you all well.
K.
