Injury Recovery Part 31 - A Tooth Pulling

You know it is hard to focus on what you want to do when you have to deal with things you really don't want to deal with and today was a balance of them both.  At work my hack team is in the last week of preparation for our meeting with the CEO and the last thing I want to be dealing with is my recovery let alone a rogue tooth.  But hey we have to play the cards we are dealt and if the accident taught me anything it is to roll with the punch's and trust in a better day tomorrow.  Last night I called a couple of dentists and got a referral for a local oral surgeon.  They were my first call this morning having looked them up on Yelp last night and they were able to fit me in an emergency spot this afternoon.  It was really nice to have things just work out with little stress.  The lady that answered the phone was really helpful and got me all set up for a 3:30 appointment to have the tooth extracted, leaving me free to get on with my day which was great with all that is going on.


I will be honest I was not looking forward to 3:30 and a little nervous about the whole thing.  With questions still unanswered I turned up for the extraction and the great experience I had on the phone continued at the dental office.  The staff were friendly and helpful and the doctor I saw was engaging and professional with great bedside manner.  He listened to my longwinded story and explained that a trauma can bring on a nerve problem but dealing with the tooth was the first step.  He explained what was involved in getting an implant and made sure that my mouth was fully numb before starting.  He took care to check that I could feel nothing and a few twists later and a crack or two and the tooth was out.   Once the tooth was out he explained that he inspected the area and I did not need a bone graph to support an implant.  He told me the optimal time to consider and implant would be in 4 to 9 months time.  He spent time explaining that only 15% of people use the rear top molar to chew on and that he would recommend that I wait and decide if I really miss the tooth as he would not recommend spending the time and money if it is not needed.  I was very impressed with the whole experience and if you are interested in who I saw here are the details.

http://www.summitoralsurgeons.com/meet-us/meet-the-doctors/  -  Jared R. Cottam

After the extraction I asked for the tooth and whist I was expecting to see something I was really surprised with the size of the cavity











I am now home and applying the regiment of gauze changing and icing needed to get the bleeding and swelling under control not to mention a good helping of pain control which makes me not care what I look like, yup that's me with a bag of frozen blueberry's strapped to my face feeling all fuzzy and happy thanks to the pain meds.  I don't know I think there is a fashion statement somewhere between 1st world war and fairy princess lol.










Well that's me for the day, if all goes well I will be back in the office tomorrow for a sync with the team in the afternoon - fingers crossed. 

Injury Recovery Part 30 - Trip to the Endodontist

The things you learn and quite honestly there are some things I wish I did not have to learn.  the lesson in medicine this week is that there are different types of dentists.  Ok so it seems obvious now but seriously I have gone through life thinking a dentist is a dentist and now there is Endodontics and oral surgeons thrown into the mix.   Ah now it comes to how I learnt this gem of knowledge, well on Friday the dentist referred me to an Endodontist as he could not help me further and wanted to rule out a compromised tooth.  The bit that sucked was having to wait three days and dealing with the pain until today.   Talking about pain, thankfully the strategy of not talking much helped control it.  Back to today, so it turns out that I have a decayed rear moaler with two option open to me.  Option 1 is a root canal however it would not be a permanent fix and would most likely need treatment and/or extraction in the future.  Option 2 extraction with or without an implant.  I was very impressed with the person I saw and the help provided in making the decision to extract.  What I was not excited about was the oral surgeon I was referred to cannot see me until next week, so tomorrow the mission is to find a good oral surgeon to remove the tooth asap as I really want to get back on track with my recovery.  Oh and here's the kicker the tooth problem was not caused by the accident but coincidence, go figure.  The good news is there is a clear plan forward which is a much better place to be than "I don't know".

Injury Recovery Part 29 - Set Back

Set backs happen but I really did not expect it to be my teeth that caused it.  I won't lie and say everything is rosy because right now it does not feel rosy.  I know I will get over it but it is hard to not throw myself a pity party.   As always it is the nagging pain that just wears as well as the. disappointment given the progress made combined with the just not knowing what it is.

You know you have another journey on your hands when your dentist does not know what is going on.  My next step is to visit a specialist to find out if I need a root canal.  The dentist would be happy if that is the problem as in his words it can then be dealt with.  The problem is the pain is not isolated to one tooth but rather a combination of upper teeth, jaw joint and back lower teeth and it seems to get worse the more I move my jaw by talking or eating.  Then there is the constant low grade headache that accompanies it, see I told you it is hard not to through a pity party.

Thankfully it is controllable with a combination of ibuprofen and oxycoden.  It is the phcological impact of having to conceded to pain killers again I am also struggling with, not to mention not knowing how much to exercise whilst in this condition to keep working on the neck and back recovery.

Ok time to kick myself is the arse and stop feeling sorry for myself and start feeling grateful it is not worse.

Injury Recovery Part 28 - Tooth Pain and No Sleep

It is 4am in the morning and I have been up since 2am when the pain killers I took to go to bed wore off.  You can probably imagine how frustrated I feel right now.

Yesterday I woke with minor symptoms in the morning that grew throughout the day until I left work with a throbbing head and face.  The worse symptoms I have had in weeks which is disappointing after the progress earlier in the week. 

Right now all I can focus on is getting the pain under control and trying to salvage some sleep so that I can function tomorrow but right now that seems unlikely.

Injury Recovery Part 27 - Slow Day

You regularly get to the point when you just want to be done with the aches and pains and today was one of those days.  Getting a good night sleep is critical to maintaining good moral and the last few nights have been far from good.   I was hopeful that last night would be better but unfortunately not.  It's not that the pain is acute it is a creeping ache that comes on and causes me to wake up at regular intervals throughout the night leaving me feeling like I have jet lag in the morning.

The lack of sleep lowers my motivation and it left me very reluctant to exercise today, I knew it would be good for me but just getting started was a struggle.  I gave myself a good talking too then hit the mat and bike but I did dial it back to make sure I did not overdo things.  As always I felt a little better at the end, I just wish I could capture that feeling for the start.

Motivation aside I got to catch up with friends I have not see for a while at lunch which was great and overall progress is continuing although the verdict is still out on my teeth.  I am optimistic they are a little better.   Optimism does not cost anything right.

My next job is to take my exercises to the next level, so there is a bit of planning in my future as long as I can get a good night sleep.

Injury Recovery Part 26 - Tooth Pain Breakthrough (Maybe)

You know I found out last night that if a night guard does not fit properly you end up chewing on it all night long.  That was however not the worst of it.  Before going to bed I accidently hit the sensitive teeth with a waterpik.  It is quite amazing the amount of pain that generates and how long it takes to settle down.  It did not really settle down all night.  So a combination of back pain, tooth pain and a chewy night guard contributed to a totally unrestful night.

Now for some good news, I was able to get an emergency appointment at the dentist and we might have had a breakthrough. Oh and a new fitted night guard.  Time will tell but tonight the teeth feel a little better but I will not be risking a waterpik that is for sure.

Syncro Part 5 - There is Life

Today the glorious sound of life, yes life ......