wisdom teeth part deux
Jul. 18th, 2010 11:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
So, the jaw is still sore. It'll cost about $75 to have it removed so, you know, it kinda sucks. I'm going to call my dentist Monday as they're not opened today.
In the meantime, guess who took inspiration from her tooth troubles to write a new non-fiction essay?
And I feel fairly sardonic today so...so far, its an interesting piece. And, seriously, it beats getting depressed writing about my grandma.
I recently woke up with a soreness and stiffness in my upper right side of my jaw. I've had teeth problems before, I know of very few people who haven't, so I wasn't too concerned. Then I went to yawn and discovered that it hurt to do so all the way. Startled, I went online to try and figure it out.
Note to self: Don't go to WebMD Symptom Checker as it makes you paranoid.
One of the first things that came up was Tetanus, which lead to me spending fifteen minutes trying to remember when I had my last boosters. It wasn't until I actually read the information on Tetanus that I realized I hadn't gotten hurt in anyway in at least two months so this was a slim possibility. I ignored the other two right off the bat, as I hadn't been taking any medications so this couldn't be a side effect and I certainly hadn't been doing cocaine.
Trismus seemed like a good possibility as it was simple and could happen from just clenching and tightening my jaw. Something about it didn't feel right though so I left the website feeling more nervous than when I first opened it.
It wasn't until I was eating breakfast (banana pancakes as I wouldn't have to use syrup) that I realized something.
I'd never had my wisdom teeth removed. In fact, I didn't think my wisdom teeth had even come in yet.
I didn't rush to the bathroom or anything like that, as I was hungry and my teeth weren't going anywhere I wasn't going. Finishing my breakfast, I did my normal morning routine before finally heading to the bathroom.
Less than five minutes after I started poking around, I came to two conclusions. One, my finger still tasted like dish soap and two, my wisdom tooth on the right side had finally come in. If I wasn't mistaken, it was impacted, squeezed in between my second molar and the very back of my jaw, leaving almost no space and only broken through on the one side of the tooth. Considering the left side of my jaw felt fine and had space in the back, I believed this was as good a self diagnosis as I was liable to make.
Wisdom teeth come in between the ages of seventeen and twenty-five, I learned online, so mine coming in at twenty-four wasn't abnormal. I hadn't read anything about jaw stiffness with them coming in, but I looked at a few charts and realized this tooth was right at the juncture that my upper jaw, when opened wide, would rub against the bottom. I didn't feel pain or pressure until it got to that point so I was pretty sure it wasn't very serious. An inconvenience at the moment, yes; serious medical condition, no.
My dentist wasn't open so I resigned myself from having issues with yawning until I could get in to see him.
Thinking about it though, I began to wonder why they're called “wisdom teeth.” It wasn't like they instilled wisdom on the person as I know several people who still have there's and wouldn't be called “wise.” Another quick trip through the net and I found my answer.
Sort of.
Wisdom teeth are called such because they come in during the “age of wisdom,” late teens and early twenties. I suppose in some ways, that makes sense, as those are the informative years of late high school and college. Most people learn more about themselves and the world around them during this time, as they adjust to being adults.
Wisdom teeth are also known as the third molars, as they're the last to come in and the most likely to be removed. If you count from the front of your teeth back, they're the eighth tooth. They become impacted if they don't come down straight, crushing into the tooth next to it (the second molar, for those interested). They can also be impacted if they don't come up all the way, with half the tooth still stuck inside the gum. Impacted wisdom teeth are almost always removed as they can cause damage to the tooth it crashed into or even problems with your gums and bones.
Reading all this online was starting to make me paranoid again so I clicked out of the website and went to something more enjoyable—Netflix. But even as I watched a documentary on Polio, I kept drifting back to wisdom teeth.
In the meantime, guess who took inspiration from her tooth troubles to write a new non-fiction essay?
And I feel fairly sardonic today so...so far, its an interesting piece. And, seriously, it beats getting depressed writing about my grandma.
I recently woke up with a soreness and stiffness in my upper right side of my jaw. I've had teeth problems before, I know of very few people who haven't, so I wasn't too concerned. Then I went to yawn and discovered that it hurt to do so all the way. Startled, I went online to try and figure it out.
Note to self: Don't go to WebMD Symptom Checker as it makes you paranoid.
One of the first things that came up was Tetanus, which lead to me spending fifteen minutes trying to remember when I had my last boosters. It wasn't until I actually read the information on Tetanus that I realized I hadn't gotten hurt in anyway in at least two months so this was a slim possibility. I ignored the other two right off the bat, as I hadn't been taking any medications so this couldn't be a side effect and I certainly hadn't been doing cocaine.
Trismus seemed like a good possibility as it was simple and could happen from just clenching and tightening my jaw. Something about it didn't feel right though so I left the website feeling more nervous than when I first opened it.
It wasn't until I was eating breakfast (banana pancakes as I wouldn't have to use syrup) that I realized something.
I'd never had my wisdom teeth removed. In fact, I didn't think my wisdom teeth had even come in yet.
I didn't rush to the bathroom or anything like that, as I was hungry and my teeth weren't going anywhere I wasn't going. Finishing my breakfast, I did my normal morning routine before finally heading to the bathroom.
Less than five minutes after I started poking around, I came to two conclusions. One, my finger still tasted like dish soap and two, my wisdom tooth on the right side had finally come in. If I wasn't mistaken, it was impacted, squeezed in between my second molar and the very back of my jaw, leaving almost no space and only broken through on the one side of the tooth. Considering the left side of my jaw felt fine and had space in the back, I believed this was as good a self diagnosis as I was liable to make.
Wisdom teeth come in between the ages of seventeen and twenty-five, I learned online, so mine coming in at twenty-four wasn't abnormal. I hadn't read anything about jaw stiffness with them coming in, but I looked at a few charts and realized this tooth was right at the juncture that my upper jaw, when opened wide, would rub against the bottom. I didn't feel pain or pressure until it got to that point so I was pretty sure it wasn't very serious. An inconvenience at the moment, yes; serious medical condition, no.
My dentist wasn't open so I resigned myself from having issues with yawning until I could get in to see him.
Thinking about it though, I began to wonder why they're called “wisdom teeth.” It wasn't like they instilled wisdom on the person as I know several people who still have there's and wouldn't be called “wise.” Another quick trip through the net and I found my answer.
Sort of.
Wisdom teeth are called such because they come in during the “age of wisdom,” late teens and early twenties. I suppose in some ways, that makes sense, as those are the informative years of late high school and college. Most people learn more about themselves and the world around them during this time, as they adjust to being adults.
Wisdom teeth are also known as the third molars, as they're the last to come in and the most likely to be removed. If you count from the front of your teeth back, they're the eighth tooth. They become impacted if they don't come down straight, crushing into the tooth next to it (the second molar, for those interested). They can also be impacted if they don't come up all the way, with half the tooth still stuck inside the gum. Impacted wisdom teeth are almost always removed as they can cause damage to the tooth it crashed into or even problems with your gums and bones.
Reading all this online was starting to make me paranoid again so I clicked out of the website and went to something more enjoyable—Netflix. But even as I watched a documentary on Polio, I kept drifting back to wisdom teeth.