Greetings, Hivers
A long weekend ahead of me after a tooth extraction.
My teeth roots, and I’ve been told this is a family thing, are quite long. This is especially dangerous with the upper teeth because these roots can go through the sinuses and nasal passages.
The dentist told me that in twenty years of experience, this was only the second time he had to deal with one of these. Feeling in the minority can be flattering depending on the subject, but this one was definitely not one of those.
What was supposed to be a routine extraction became a two-hour long battle to pull the tooth out and then fix the gap that left nose and mouth horribly connected. The tooth broke and every root had to be extracted one at the time. The last one caused the most damage.
The extraction was decided after looking at the panoramic X-ray and determining that the cause of the toothaches that had been affecting me in the last two weeks was cavities created by the accumulation of food between teeth. There is almost no gaps between my teeth, especially the molars, and that makes cleaning quite complicated. Even though the teeth could have been saved with root canals, that procedure is too expensive and most experiences of people I know advice against it.
Thus, extraction, which modern dentistry tries to avoid at all cost, becomes for us the only alternative to toothache, when repairing it becomes expensive and useless. Dental implants are not an option for most of us and that makes losing a tooth quite a traumatic experience. It feels as if you are accelerating your aging process.
Losing a tooth with an additional complication is not fun at all.
I guess I should be thankful that the extraction was made at a private clinic and not by one of our traditional saca-muelas (tooth pullers). The hole left by the tooth was too big and the risks of infection higher when the sinus is perforated after the extraction. One may experience nose bleeding, any liquids ingested may come out of the nose, and breathing becomes quite uncomfortable when the air goes directly to the mouth from the nose.
I got some 10 stiches to close the hole and something else inserted in the socket to help healing. Now I have to avoid sneezing, which I have not done in 24 hours now (a miracle); I have to keep taking antibiotics for 6 more days and painkillers to avoid further discomfort.
I read, too late, that when dentists notice that there is a risk of perforation of the sinus membrane, they should do something to lift the sinus before the extraction. If you ever have a similar situation, make sure you ask your dentist if that is something that s/he can do.
After this one heals, I still have two more teeth to deal with. Hopefully, those will be repairs and not extractions, but there is a high probability of the latter.
Hope you do not have to deal with this kinds of dental issues and that in your part of the world more options are available and affordable to preserve your smile.
Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend, and take good care of your teeth
