Wisdom Teeth

I got my two lower wisdom teeth taken out yesterday and now I'm groggy from painkillers and drinking porridge from a straw. It wasn't as bad as I thought. Took less time than a root canal.

Yesterday was a very productive day. I went to my dentist to get my teeth washed, then returned some library books, opened a HSBC bank account, ate food, bought some Peets coffee and mailed them to my coworkers at DB along with a nice card. Not so productive after the wisdom teeth extraction but whatever.

The oral surgeon recommended taking out all 4. But my upper ones aren't pushing against the molars next to them (like my lower ones are) and are still under the gums. So I was reluctant. And then we found out that my insurance doesn't have enough money since I did a couple of fillings in March. My dentist wants to help me replace all the old mercury fillings with new white ones. So we ended up taking out only the two lower ones.

I've never had so much anesthetic pumped into me before. My flesh under my fingernails turned blue and cold. My hands were shaking and my heart was beating really fast. Not that I was scared or anything. I mean, I've gotten a root canal and teeth taken out that had long roots. The actual surgery was really fast. Less than half an hour. I later found out that one of the nurse is the wife of a math teacher at Oakland High. I've never had her husband as a teacher but she's heard of me.

The anesthetic went away after 6 hours. Can't really talk and my jaw refuses to open up. Dizzy from the painkillers but otherwise, I'm fine. And as always the left side of my jaw is more swollen than the right.