Monday, May 5, 2008

Wisdom Teeth

Last week, Mae and I visited a dental and maxillofacial specialist. You see, my poor wife's lower wisdom teeth never quite came out. Instead of growing upwards like all clever teeth should, these guys decided to grow sideways into the rest of the others. As you can imagine, this causes some discomfort and at times, immense pain.

Unfortunately for Mae, her teeth are resting on her nerves, making their removal quite a complicated procedure. In fact, most dentists she saw had recommended Dr. Ling as the man for the job. We were worried. What if a slip of the hand severs the nerve and Mae ends up with a paralysed jaw? What if a wrong move gave my poor wife a crooked face?

"The worse case scenario," according to Dr Ling, "is that you will have a numb sensation on your lips all your life." According to the good doctor, the risks are not terribly high, only 5-10%. And the chances of healing from such an event is 98%.

"Then she won't feel anything when you kiss her," said my colleague Rat, later that day.

"Is that all you women think about?" I said. Mae had said the exact same thing when we left the clinic, and I had told her as I told Rat, that there were more important things than kissing.

"What else is there?" Rat enquired.

I just gave her a shit-eating grin that spoke volumes. Heh. Despite my best efforts to prove otherwise, I'm afraid I'll have to concede that, like all men, I was just another bastard. :)

6 comments:

  1. Speak for yourself!

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  2. Hi james. Wisdom tooth extraction is very minor if you found the right doctor. My dentist, who is a family friend based in KL jalan TAR, extracted 4 of my wisdom tooth (2 at a time, up and down) and it was a 15 minute job in total. His school of thought is that the lesser nerves you touch, the faster it heals. I kid you not, on both occasions, I could eat a Quarter Pounder 1 and a half day after the extraction. Face not swollen or anything like that. After the first extraction, i decided to go back after 1 month to take out the other two (same case as Mae's... they were growing into my second last teeth. I am scared of pain so I am glad my dentist took it out painlessly as possible. He did my mom's dentures and capping and trust me, if it was other dentist, it wouldnt have been pleasant. email me if you want my dentist's number. (hehe, promoting to the max!)

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  3. Happy Mother's Day to Mae.. :)

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  4. extracting wisdom teeth is painful! speaking from experience here.

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  5. Yes, you are, Fanboy.
    No, Amy, Mae's condition is complicated. Which is why a few dentists have refused to take on her case and instead referred her to a maxillofacial specialist.
    Thanks Mama.
    So I've gathered, Simon. :)

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