TWISTED’S WISDOM - TOOTH, THAT IS
Alright, for anyone who’s met me (or seen my ugly mugshot above), you know I have small rodent-like teeth (”What does he do, nibble your bum?”). It is that fact that I thought my wisdom teeth wouldn’t be a problem fitting once they came in. Yeah, it’s a good thing I’m not a dentist because I was wrong!
My lower right wisdom tooth has been moving off and on for years now, but it wasn’t until this weekend that it really started to give me discomfort outside of just cutting through the gum. This time it was actually wedging itself into the inner side of my cheek!
Having not been to the dentist in YEARS, I quickly went online to my dental insurance provider to find the nearest dental office I was covered under. I found Carolina Oaks which is near the old studios at McAlister Square and gave them a call first thing Monday morning. After briefing them on my somewhat urgent situation and negotiating various appointment times, I was able to nail down an 8:30 appointment for Tuesday.
I got to the dental office around 8:15 and, after filling out the usual medical and insurance paperwork, I found myself getting X-rayed and in the dentist chair. The dentist came back and greeted me having gotten wind of who I was and introduced himself as Marc Workman. He sat and talked with me about my options, one of which being to go ahead and yank the bastard to which I, of course, agreed.
First, he took a large swab with some numbing jelly on it and proceeded to apply it to the area in question. Let me tell you, that stuff is amazing! I hardly felt the needles used to actually anesthetize my mouth! Then, of course, I sat for a while to let the anesthetics take effect which is a very strange sensation! Now I know what Bill Cosby was talking about!
Then the little operation began which wasn’t bad considering I really couldn’t feel much. I’ve heard the pressure is the worst part but the only thing that really bothered me was all the bone scraping noises that went straight to my ear! UGH!!!
When it was over, I had to chew on some guaze to stop the bleeding and I, fortunately, didn’t need any stitching. Granted I went through a few clumps of gauze over the next hour! I had them let me keep the tooth (yes, I’m juvenile and morbid like that) and before leaving I made a much overdue appointment for a good teeth cleaning for late next month. I got in my car around 9:45 having only been at the dentist office for a mere hour and a half!
I then headed to Wal-Mart to get my prescription filled. Of course, it was gonna take about an hour to fill, so I went over to grab some early lunch at Chic-Fil-A. I just got the nugget combo so I could just throw food in my mouth and chew on one side. Unfortunately, I kept biting the right side of my bottom lip because it was still numb and I couldn’t tell what I was biting! As I was finishing my meal, the nerves in the operated area woke up and they were NOT HAPPY!!!
So, I went back to the pharmacy to see if my prescription had, by chance, been filled early. Of course it wasn’t so I ran over to the electronics department to look around and tried to take my mind off the pain. I grabbed a copy of Jeff Dunham’s DVD Arguing with Myself and went back to pick up my prescription. The prescription was for Vicodin and I, of course, got the generic brand which has been taking GOOD care of me! LOL!!!
Being the trooper that I am, I went right to the office around noon to get some work done and then on the air at 2 pm. Before getting off the air, my good dentist actually called the request line just to see how I was doing! I think Twisted Todd has found his dentist! Thank you, Dr. Workman!