Way OT: Teething again at age 39

[JonInMiddleGA]

Once again, this sucks

I think I mentioned this several years ago when it happened the first time, but it still doesn't suck any less 4 years later.

24 years ago, at the age of 15, I had all four wisdom teeth removed. Hurt like a sumbitch, two were impacted & were apparently really tough for the surgeon to get out but at least that was the end of that, right? WRONG.

Several years ago, I had what I thought was maybe a little cut on the inside edge of my gum, right at the back of my mouth. No biggie ... except that it went from mildly annoying to really hurting, both aching & sore. 2-3 weeks of this and I'm just about fixated on the problem, I mean, this is freaking weird & it hurts too. So I'm fiddling with it in the bathroom mirror one night & realize "hey, that looks like a tooth ... coming through the side of my gum !"

So I break down, go to the dentist, and a few x-rays later he explains that I've got little fragments of tooth floating around inside the gum. Apparently the oral surgeon from my teens shattered the tooth trying to get it out & missed some of the pieces, which then decided to look for a way out more than two decades later. I had already managed to pick out a few of the slivers and the dentist was real honest about it: I can get the rest of them out for you ... but you'll never speak to me again afterwards, because it's going to hurt a LOT and it'll continue to hurt for at least a week after I'm finished. Now, when a dentist says that as opposed to their usual "won't feel a thing" b.s., I'm thinking I better listen and decided to leave well enough alone. A couple more little pieces emerged over the next couple of weeks & then everything healed up, I figure that's the end of that.

Wrong again.

So here I sit, with a week long tooth/gum ache, and having just removed the second little tiny bone fragment from my extremely sore gums. And I can feel more pieces right under the gumline. Hard to imagine that so much grief could be caused by something that's no bigger than about half a pinky nail trimming at the most.

But I have great sympathy for infants who are teething, lemme tell ya.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

But I have great sympathy for infants who are teething, lemme tell ya.

I'll pass that along, thanks. Hope you both get over it soon.

[RendeR]

This sounds like a lawsuit brewing. I mean isn't it rather GROSS negligence to leave what I would deem dangerous shards of bone floating around in your jawline?

And you already have evidence of PAIN and some suffering =)

Teething indeed...*sucks*

[Glengoyne]

This settles it, with all of us having kids nowadays. We need some FOFC product!.


FOFC Teething Rings.

[chinaski]

man I feel for you, I still have my wisdom teeth and all 4 are impacted.

[duckman]

Cowboy up?

[Franklinnoble]

Try frozen teething rings.

Or rubbing whiskey on your gums.

That's what works for my kids.

[duckman]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

Or rubbing whiskey on your gums.

YOU GAVE YOUR KIDS ALCOHOL?!!! I'm calling the DHS on you!

[Franklinnoble]

Yeah, there's probably more booze in Children's NyQuil. But it's surprisingly effective.

[Airhog]

I had two of my wisdom teeth out last tuesday. And my jaw still hurts. Neither of them were impacted, just regular extractions..

[Franklinnoble]

Why would you have them removed if they weren't impacted?

[Huckleberry]

The advice to have sympathy for a teething child is right on the money.

I can't remember teething, of course, and the second time around the permanent teeth use the holes provided by the baby teeth. But I've always imagined that it hurts like hell and reports like this never fail to confirm it. With both of my kids when they got into a phase where they would start crying for seemingly no reason at all it was guaranteed that if I took a flashlight and looked in their mouth I'd see a tooth busting through.

[rkmsuf]

maybe you are a werewolf

[ausonny]

So would this be a bad time to mention I was one of the lucky ones born without wisdom teeth?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by ausonny

So would this be a bad time to mention I was one of the lucky ones born without wisdom teeth?

Yes.

Yes it would.

[chinaski]

Originally Posted by ausonny

So would this be a bad time to mention I was one of the lucky ones born without wisdom teeth?

wow, ive never heard of that. I ended up with "sharks teeth" when I was a kid. Sharks teeth is when your baby teeth roots are so long that refuse to fall out. Your adult teeth start growing in behind or in front of them, behind in my case. Over 2 days I had most of my baby teeth pulled out, it was a horrible experience.

[Franklinnoble]

I had a few like that. I didn't feel a thing. But then again, I was pretty well doped up.

[RendeR]

I had 2 perfectly normal wisdom teeth, albeit they were over large. When I went into the Navy I had to have them removed.

Apparently my wisdom teeth were SO overlarge that the Dentist doing the extraction tugged so hard he pulled me up off the chair momentarily. As it popped loose I felt a thud and sat back down....the doc looked at me funny...got a saw, sawed the tooth in half and only THEN was able to get the thing out of my mouth. He did this on both sides of my lower jaw.

It appeared that my wisdom teeth were neary 3 inches long and the roots were snuggled down into the lower jaw itself almost back to the joint.

I ended up with a dry socket on the left side...It took nearly 6 months to totally heal up.

Wisdom teeth suck.

And anyone born without them should die a long miserable death.

[duckman]

Ten days after having my wisdom teeth pulled, I got an infection in my right leg that ultimately ended my Air Force career. Conicidence? After reading about heart and lung infections after having teeth pulled, I don't think so.

[RendeR]

Originally Posted by duckman

Ten days after having my wisdom teeth pulled, I got an infection in my right leg that ultimately ended my Air Force career. Conicidence? After reading about heart and lung infections after having teeth pulled, I don't think so.

If you really believe this you should file for lifetime compensation from the government. If there is enough evidence you may well receive a stipend to compensate you as you continue through life for any drawbacks said infection may have caused long term.

[duckman]

Originally Posted by RendeR

If you really believe this you should file for lifetime compensation from the government. If there is enough evidence you may well receive a stipend to compensate you as you continue through life for any drawbacks said infection may have caused long term.

I collect $$$ from the government for this. Plus, they're flipping the bill to put me through college. It's the one good thing that came out of it.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Once again, this sucks

I think I mentioned this several years ago when it happened the first time, but it still doesn't suck any less 4 years later.

24 years ago, at the age of 15, I had all four wisdom teeth removed. Hurt like a sumbitch, two were impacted & were apparently really tough for the surgeon to get out but at least that was the end of that, right? WRONG.

Several years ago, I had what I thought was maybe a little cut on the inside edge of my gum, right at the back of my mouth. No biggie ... except that it went from mildly annoying to really hurting, both aching & sore. 2-3 weeks of this and I'm just about fixated on the problem, I mean, this is freaking weird & it hurts too. So I'm fiddling with it in the bathroom mirror one night & realize "hey, that looks like a tooth ... coming through the side of my gum !"

So I break down, go to the dentist, and a few x-rays later he explains that I've got little fragments of tooth floating around inside the gum. Apparently the oral surgeon from my teens shattered the tooth trying to get it out & missed some of the pieces, which then decided to look for a way out more than two decades later. I had already managed to pick out a few of the slivers and the dentist was real honest about it: I can get the rest of them out for you ... but you'll never speak to me again afterwards, because it's going to hurt a LOT and it'll continue to hurt for at least a week after I'm finished. Now, when a dentist says that as opposed to their usual "won't feel a thing" b.s., I'm thinking I better listen and decided to leave well enough alone. A couple more little pieces emerged over the next couple of weeks & then everything healed up, I figure that's the end of that.

Wrong again.

So here I sit, with a week long tooth/gum ache, and having just removed the second little tiny bone fragment from my extremely sore gums. And I can feel more pieces right under the gumline. Hard to imagine that so much grief could be caused by something that's no bigger than about half a pinky nail trimming at the most.

But I have great sympathy for infants who are teething, lemme tell ya.

I never had my wisdom teeth pulled (long story short, I'm afraid of the dentist). When they came in, I had nothing but sympathy for infants/toddlers who are cutting their teeth. And I had a lot of ice cream.

I know your pain, JIMGa, hopefully it'll end soon.

/tk

[Wolfpack]

Thanks guys. I probably need to get my wisdoms pulled at some point, but this only reinforces my abhorrence of getting it done.

And yes, teething does suck. My infant daughter is ALREADY beginning to teeth at ten weeks. My two-and-a-half-year-old only stopped teething earlier this year. *sigh*

[JonInMiddleGA]

FINALLY !

I managed to get this joker out around 3AM. Much bigger fragment than the first time around, about the size of a smallish baby tooth. Sore as hell, but hoping now that this will heal up & leave me the hell alone.

[Airhog]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

Why would you have them removed if they weren't impacted?

2 of the three teeth I am having out have cavities. 1 is severe. The 3rd tooth came in crooked and was putting pressure on the adjoining tooth., when it is hard to get in there and clean, it is easy to get a cavity.


Just 1 more to go and I am homefree!!!

[JonInMiddleGA]

I should have known this wouldn't end simply, easily, or well.

Long story short (yeah, right), instead of healing up & leaving me alone, several other fragments were floating around & trying to break through. Ultimately, I've ended up with a rather large abcess (sp?) that my dentist decided to lance this morning.

He then made a cut about the length of a tooth in order to let it drain & hopefully heal. Problem is, because of the location, the severity, and probably because of some poorly hidden sadisitic streak, it's extremely dangerous for me to smoke & risk a floating tobacco particle getting into the now wide open wound. So, until it heals up, I'm suddenly cold turkey ... and in pain that this Lortab shit ain't touching ... and supposed to be loading up the first of many loads of stuff to move to the new house ... and on an antibiotic known for the strong tendency to make people throw up ... and facing a drive to & from SC on Saturday to take Will to see TNA wrestling ... and hoping not to murder my worthless fucking contractor since not a single room in the house is actually ready for anything to be moved in (floors that should have been finished a week ago still aren't dry).

So far, 4.5 hours since my last smoke & I've already pulled in front of a tractor trailer pretty much on purpose, and that was two hours ago.

And before you ask why, rather than do that, I don't just light up, it's because it probably wouldn't kill me but instead just be incredibly painful & costly to fix.

This ought to be a fucking hoot by the time the estimated 5-7 days for me to heal passes. The current over/under on a death related to involuntary smoking cessation is 36 hours. I'm betting the under.

edit to add: In case anybody wondered, now that they're over the counter, I'm wearing one of those patch thingies. I'm also currently wondering whether they could be combined & boiled into some sort of drinkable tea.

[QuikSand]

In sympathy with your plight (well, not the smoking part, I guess) I went for 90 minutes of painful dentistry myself today.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

In sympathy with your plight (well, not the smoking part, I guess) I went for 90 minutes of painful dentistry myself today.

I'd really like to be madder at the dentist right now, considering he didn't fucking warn me about the consequences of what he was doing before he did it, but I really can't get homicidal towards him specifically in good conscience because I think he really didn't think about it until afterwards. The office was hopping, three emergency visits just while I was there & he's in a solo practice, I think he honestly just lost track of the added impact this would have on me. I've seen him once before, he's actually quite good about being a straight shooter & I don't think he pulled any sort of anti-smoking fast one on me with this, it was just an oversight borne of trying to run between three rooms at the same time.

But in the middle of multiple extremely high stress events at the same time just isn't the time to be doing cold turkey involuntarily, especially not when you're a 2+ pack a day guy for 20 years (actually my lowest level in years, down from a 4+ pack habit a number of years ago).

[QuikSand]

Sorry man... I'm obviously in one of the lightweight circles of hell compared to you.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Sorry man... I'm obviously in one of the lightweight circles of hell compared to you.

Did I mention that my friggin tooth/jaw/gum hurts like a sumbitch too?

I wonder who is less popular to see: a dentist or an IRS employee?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just in case anybody wondered (yeah, right) ...

It's now been nearly 112 hours since I was last able to light a cigarette.

In that time I've learned that:
-- for someone with my habit, the patches ain't worth a damn. Perhaps not so much because of my average nicotine intake but rather more because of how I tend to smoke (more on that in a minute)

-- The nicotine gum, which I bought Saturday morning, has been exponentially more effective at keeping the withdrawal symptoms at bay. Well, maybe not "at bay" but so far I haven't killed myself or anyone else, and that's significantly better than I would have bet on early Saturday morning

-- Depending upon whether the incision has made a little more progress toward healing, I may actually have my first cigarette in some five days on Tuesday.

In case the info might be useful to someone who actually wants to quit (as opposed to me just trying to survive without 'em for several days), here's a couple of things I learned by paying some attention to just when/what made things the worst for me.
1) I think the reason the slow (21 mg nicotine over 24 hours) release of the patches was so inadequate for me was in part because the reduction was too sharp (my estimated typical nicotine intake is about 50 mg per day, based on 1 mg per cigarette) but also because I don't smoke the same amount all day. I tend to chain smoke for the first couple of hours I'm awake, and then nearly chain the last 2-3 hours before I finally go to sleep, but the rest of the day is more like once cigarette every half hour or so.

What that meant was that early morning & late night were damned near unbearable for me.

When I switched to the gum (4 mg nicotine per piece), I could actually feel a major difference. My mother said "I knew something was different, your voice actually changed since yesterday" while my son said "those must be better, you aren't nearly as grumpy since you got them". I was better able to mimic my normal pattern with the gum than with the balanced release of the patches.

Now the downside of that, and the reason I don't think the gum would ultimately be an effective permanent replacement for me and/or a route to quitting is that using it disrupts my other nearly equal addiction: coffee. The way the nicotine gum works is disrupted by most anything you drink within 15 minutes or so of using it (something to do with acidity according to the instructions that come with it). And believe me, I tried it out. Sure enough, the gum simply doesn't "activate" if you try it too close to drinking something.

As some of you may remember, I'm a 3 pot a day coffee drinker, and like a lot of smokers, the consumption of the two things goes hand in hand. It only took me one morning to figure out that the correct order was "gum first, then coffee" but it's still not the same. Basically, I found myself in the position of being unhappy/uncomfortable/dissatisifed by either the lack of one or the other. It's amazing really, when you have to be aware of it, to discover how often you almost unconsciously take a sip of coffee/coke/tea/whatever. Slip up & take a drink and that's another 15 minute delay toward the nicotine fix.
It gets pretty damned annoying after a couple of days. Not to mention the fact that the blasted things have a really low melting point & turn into a sticky mess that you can't hardly get out of the packaging if you try carrying them in your pocket.

So, FWIW, if you're a smoker who really would like to quit, I'd say that:
-- if you smoke less than a pack a day, or smoke at a steady pace through the day, then the patches are at least worth a try.
-- if you're a heavier smoker, or tend to binge cigarettes at certain times of the day, I'd recommend trying the gum as your first choice of an aid.

BTW, the recommended maximum on the gum for starters is up to 20 pieces a day. But in almost three days, I've only used 15 pieces total. For me, it's turned out to be more about managing the peak times for smoking to endure it rather than being a constant thing. There's a regular low to mid grade discomfort but that's been tolerable as long as the worst parts could get knocked down, otherwise it tended to snowball.

YMMV (and probably would), but like I said, that's my .02 FWIW.

And, on another note that almost certainly varies wildly from one person to the next, I found it interesting to discover that I didn't really have any of the common signs of tactile addiction; there hasn't been any time where I found myself looking for something to keep my hands busy, or wanted a toothpick as a substitute or whatever. My addiction seems to be almost completely limited to the chemical process, and to some lesser degree the psychological aspect.

[Glengoyne]

Hey Thanks for the update Jon. I was actually worried about you.

The cigarettes and coffee does remind me of one semester of college. I got a job over the summer as the computer operator at a bank. It was a night job so I figured I could still do school. Well it turned out that a conversion just as school started up again left me working 12 to 14 hour days, plus trying to complete a light load (Physics, Organic Chemistry with a lab, and an upper division math class). It was completely brutal. I slept literally on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and weekends. I added cigarettes to my three or more pots of coffee a day routine. Since I was by myself, I smoked rapidly and continually. I would actually put away two packs and change every shift. I was so amped up most of the time, I'd have to drink booze to get some sleep.

Fortunately, for me, after about two months of smoking I coughed up this big black wad of gunk. It convinced me that I probably shouldn't do that any more. Cold Turkey, but it really hadn't been all that long, so it wasn't bad at all.

In any case good luck with the teething thing after all.