Back to the dentist

If you're squeamish, stop reading now.

Yesterday, I went out to Mom & Dad's to babysit while Mom went and put in five hours at the office. Dad has a cold, so he's being a complete baby and he slept all day (except for the forty-five minutes where he pushed the girls' craft projects out of the way and ate and read at the kitchen table). *eyeroll*

The girls were overall well-behaved, and we had fun, but my mouth was really sore. It felt as if the swelling had gotten much worse and my gum above the missing tooth was hot. Despite regular doses of ibuprofen, it wasn't any better this morning, and then when I was brushing my teeth, something snagged on the brush, which was how I discovered a bone sliver was working its way out.

Although the oral surgeon had done the extraction, my regular dentist squished me into her schedule. After a quick x-ray and exam, she came back with the Novocaine and told me the sliver was too big to allow it to work its own way out. As soon as I was numb, she enlarged the hole, pulled out the piece of bone, and showed it too me.

I am not exaggerating when I say that this sharp-edged, pointy piece of me that had decided to break loose was the size of my pinkie fingernail. Eeep! I wound up with three stitches in my mouth and an appointment on Tuesday to see the oral surgeon again for follow-up. I also feel as if someone has been beating on my gums with a mallet.

Ow.