Open Your Mouse

So it was back to the dentist for me today. The dentist speaks a fair amount of English, but he does a lot of smiling and nodding when I talk to him, which makes me wonder if he really does understand what I say. I'm very familiar with the smile and nod routine. Sometimes it's just less of a headache than asking someone to explain. However, when the topic of conversation is my tooth and the no-kidding-horrendous pain it's causing, smile and nod just won't do. So I asked my friend Catherine to come along with me.

First, Catherine explained to the dentist that I can't eat, can't sleep, can't brush my teeth, and am starting to have a hard time talking because my entire jaw hurts because of this tooth. Then I said the same thing to the dentist, while he smiled and nodded. I think he understood what I said without the interpretation, but it gave me a little peace of mind to know that he heard the whole story twice, once in a language I know he understands.

He tilted me back in the chair and told me to open my "mouse." (Koreans have a very hard time pronouncing the "th" sound.) Fortunately he numbed my tooth this time, because I don't think he could have touched it without me jumping out of the chair and shrieking. I tried my hardest to block the rest out of my memory. After and hour of poking, prodding, squirting, filing, and goodness knows what else to my tooth, he told me to keep taking Tylenol and sent me on my way. I go back on Wednesday.

So I've been sitting here in my apartment for the past two hours waiting for the numbness to wear off so that my mouth functions properly so I can eat. Now, just as I'm regaining sensation, I'm realizing that I'm not going to be a happy camper when I can feel my face again, so it might be better to eat NOW, despite the drooling and lack of coordination on the right side of my face, in an effort to be sound asleep before the numbness wears off. That's my new goal, so I'm signing off and hoping it'll happen.

9 appointments: $45.