About the post today.....

I know that I've posted about my dental adventures here and there, and there have been a lot.

You see, we didn't have good dental insurance or dental insurance at all for about 6 years. So guess what didn't happen during those 6 years?

You guessed it. I didn't go to the dentist. It was an expense we didn't need.

Unfortunately, this course of action left me with an extremely screwed up mouth.

I went to the dentist for the first time in those 6 years in March. Partly because Devlin needed to have his first cleaning, and he had to have two fillings, but I need to be brave for him. I also needed a reason, and there was no way I was about to let down my son.

So I went. I then found out that I had gum disease (and a moderately bad case). Along with that I had to have several root canals, a couple of fillings and 7 extractions total. You guys can totally use my story to tell your kids about the importance of dental hygiene. I already do. :)

So back to the 7 extractions - they were all molars. 6 of them were root tips and one was decay. Two of them were extracted shortly after my first scaling, which is a most unpleasant thing, but necessary because of the gum disease.

Tuesday, I had 2 more teeth extracted, root tips to be exact. One had to be surgically extracted, so I ended up with a couple of stitches. Nothing too bad, and I scheduled my appointment for next week to have the next two extractions done. I knew the decayed tooth was going to have to be surgically removed, so I got a referral for an oral surgeon.

Oh on top of all of these dental things - I suffer from TMJ. Fun, right?

So yesterday when I put Harrison down for a nap, I decide to lie down as well. I didn't every actually fall asleep - I just dozed, but I was jarred awake by a throbbing pain in my jaw. Great. The TMJ is acting up again, because I clench my teeth (molars, specifically) when I sleep. I usually only do this when I'm stressed or angry, but sometimes it just happens too.

So I get up and take some ibuprofen and then pull out a warm compress, per instructions from my dentist on  easing TMJ pain. Except that the warm compress does not work. Its making the pain worse. Craaaaaap.

Its not TMJ, its an infection. So I pull out my antibiotics (my dentist is very thorough and has prepared instructions for almost every inevitability) and take one.  The rest of the afternoon goes ok. The pain worsens   throughout the day, but I'm managing.

By 11 pm,  my jaw was swollen quite a bit. I go to bed, hoping that the swelling goes down a bit.

My wish was not answered. Here's what I looked like this morning when I woke up.

I apologize for the blurriness and quality, but it matches the feeling.

Yep - those three remaining extractions had abscessed. Really it was just the top back extraction that had abscessed and then it spread, quickly, to the other 2 {bad} teeth.

So this morning I went to see the oral surgeon (miraculously they had an opening for today) and they pulled out the last 3 teeth scheduled for extraction. They ended up having to clean the gum tissue on the top along with my upper jawbone. The infection had gotten everywhere it seemed.

Well  - I'm still swollen, still on antibiotics and pain killers, and not crafting. I've been ordered to take it easy. Until TUESDAY! Argh. Do you know how hard it is not to do anything? Very. We'll see how I fare.

On a brighter note - This is the last major dental thing my poor mouth needed. My dentist has seen me almost every week since March, but no more! We're on to the fun stuff - like whitening. :)

See you guys tomorrow for FFF!