#not the wisdoms to hell with them. but I couldn't afford a root canal for the third tooth so it had to come out

[arctic-hands]

Re: the being immunocompromised and nearly dying of agony from shingles all over me at sixteen thing. I used to say that was the worst pain I've ever felt in my chronically ill life, worsened by the fact that weenie me refused morphine because I was fully indoctrinated by D.A.R.E. and terrified that I would become an addict as I lay in the hospital bed writhing in agony as I was damn-near actively dying. Even breaking my toes a few years later just warranted a mild "Fuck." in comparison.

Anyway I recently experienced three infected teeth (two wisdoms that apparently just grew in already rotted? and one cavity that got out of hand because I kept forgetting to call my dentist and couldn't afford it anyway) within a two year span and let me say that that knocked the nearly dying in agony thing right out of the park

#it had literally been a decade by that point since I ever cried in pain #the last time before that being when I had my first bowel obstruction that coincided with a migraine #I miss my tooth #not the wisdoms to hell with them. but I couldn't afford a root canal for the third tooth so it had to come out #the kicker is that as of a month ago Maryland Medicaid covers dental. again. #it used to cover dental even before that but they cancelled the coverage the year I moved to Maryland #I'm glad they are covering dental again and I have an appointment in May but I wish it had come a year earlier #because my options were between a two hundred dollar extraction or a thousand dollar root canal #teeth are a luxury in the U.S. #also when I had my wisdoms removed I went to a dental surgeon and had laughing gas #but when I had the third tooth removed I couldn't afford that again and went to my regular dentist and didn't even have valium for it #I was SHAKING in the chair trying not to freak out or faint #it was longer than it should have been too because the tooth shattered in the process and he had to dig out the roots and let me tell you #not. fun. #at least for two hundred dollars I got novocaine. If I had gone to the dental school for free they wouldn't have even given me that #cannot don't want to imagine that pain #I wish I could have kept my wisdom teeth like my roommate did when he had one years before #but the dental surgeon refused to give them to me because of pandemic protocols. I never even got to look at them #laughing gas is better than valium I think. both are great tho #I wasn't out of control loopy on laughing gas but when they were stitching up my gums I thought 'huh. hell of a time to floss my teeth' #teeth #toothache #Thou hell o' a' diseases