Sayonara, Wisdom Teeth

I just wanted to post a brief update; after a critical telecon at work this morning, I drove through the snow flurries (and inevitable traffic jams amongst a DC population that acts like a single snow flake is a biblical deluge upon the streets of Los Angeles) to an appointment to have my abscessed wisdom tooth examined and extracted.

Last Friday when my wife picked up the phone to seek out an oral surgeon who might be able to work me in immediately (and who accepted my dental insurance), she also called my doctor, whose office recommended an oral surgeon in their same building, and my wife had the good luck to reach the surgeon himself on a Friday evening instead of his answering service.

Although I had some apprehension about having the extraction done under local anaesthetic only verses conscious sedation (which I'd had for the last two extractions--figuring the less I would remember of the process the better), the fact I'd eaten within six hours (a light breakfast--I'd never expected to be worked into the schedule so quickly!) nixed sedation.  But it didn't matter; the entire procedure, from first opening wide to the last suture took less than ten minutes total.

I'm recovering fairly well at home now and plan to head out to the store shortly to pick up some nice soft foods to cook for dinner--though the surgeon indicated I could eat whatever I wanted pretty much right away; the extraction went that well.

I'll have to work from home tomorrow for my own sanity, but I do have to say I'm glad to no longer have the pain of that tooth hanging around my neck (or the fears of it spreading a much more serious infection to my heart or brain, etc.!)