For about 6 years I have believed that I would need all four of my wisdom teeth out.  For 6 years I have managed to have more important things to do with the $3000 I would require for dental surgery on that scale.

Since finalising my care plan and finding a dentist operating under it, I have ventured back to get my teeth checked out… and… it wasn’t the news I was hoping for, but at the same time, it wasn’t all bad.

I ended up having some pretty extensive fillings in the left hand side of my mouth… for holes I didn’t even know existed.  My new dental surgery, Burleigh Dentistry, have informed me that this was due to my… ah-hem, wild existence as a teenager (and in my mid 20-somethings) and due to my condition.  So.. I was not always too concerned about my health… for years (and I mean like… 10) I marinated my liver and kidneys in Bourbon, Tequila, Vodka and pretty much anything I could get my hands on every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  All the time while torturing my eardrums with the finest Heavy Metal and very occasionally my lungs with random peoples cigarettes.  During my formative years I did, I would say, just about everything you shouldn’t do… and I had a really good time doing it (I know your not meant to say that – but its true).  The way I chose to spend my formative years combined with the fact I have a chronic illness affecting my mouth has lead to me having broken saliva.  Yes, even my saliva doesn’t work right.  Anyway, saliva helps protect against acid wear – except mine being broken…. doesn’t.  My new dentists said with a smirk on his face “why do you think they give you money to spend on your mouth?  Because they are kind and they want you to have a pleasant smile?”  Ah-hem.  Gotcha.    While I can’t blame Crohn’s entirely for this new and exciting medical revelation… it still does pretty much effect every aspect of your life….

So after my first appointment I got a dental x-ray to confirm I needed surgery to remove my rotting wisdom teeth and get the necessary referrals.  To my surprise, my new dentist said that I did indeed need to get teeth out – but only two.  He also told me I was having it done in the chair.  I cringed and he looked at me hard.  “After everything you’ve been though in the last year – you are worried about getting teeth out…?” he said after a long pause.

Yes… even after everything I have been through this year, I am still worried about dental surgery, in the chair, to remove a badly (and I saw it – very badly) impacted wisdom tooth.  However…. there is a slight glimmer of hope we might be able to get married next year… if I had to go under to get my teeth out – that glimmer is gone.  Time to suck it up…. they are coming out in the chair.

Before he will even look sideways at performing dental surgery on an already sick person – I need to come off my Entocort…. he wont perform surgery on anyone taking a medication he is not familiar with, or for three months afterward… so we came up with a date of November…. he also wouldn’t touch me until I went back to Dr. E – which occurred on Thursday just gone.  I needed to go and see him cause I am all “special needs” now – even when its something simple like having a tooth removed.  I had no idea how much so until our consultation.  Generally, people who are getting teeth out are given a course of anti-biotics and some decent pain killers…  got given a list….  My list includes: two courses of anti-biotics, some suggested narcotic based pain relief (I say with a little bit of glee FINALLY), a 7 day course of Prednisone, a course of Sorhitol and a course of Colonyl…. just to get two teeth out.  My “little” list has concerned me greatly about my bowel surgery… how much shit am I going to have to take for that?!?

Anyhow, the date is set and I have my list… I just need to go to my GP for a prescription and in November its all on – or in this case its all out.  I am still apprehensive… if it was just an extraction I would have sucked it up by now… but its dental surgery, while I am awake for every twist, tug and crunch….

In the grand scheme of things, its only 45 minutes of discomfort and its over… this is something they can fix… I suppose it makes me wish that everything was as simple as having teeth pulled.

What a strange and unsettling notion.