fuh! its been a while... i was bugged with what people called 'the writers' block'. but i have been checking and replying your comments regularly and i must say, braces is, hands down, the hottest topic out there! but today i would like to highlight another actually very common 'situation' that all of us may have experience. why i say common? because i would get on average 3 patients everyday with the same 'situation'. oh, and i call it a 'situation' rather than a 'problem', because everybody has it, and it is as regular as a common headache!
are there times that you feels like there's a dull, aching sense at the corner of your jaw? then, it radiates to the very back of your last back tooth? then i can tell you, that's the time that we actually became wiser. or rather, your wisdom tooth is actually peeking out to erupt! this is its first step, actually. pop in a tablet of panadol if you cant stand it, it should go off. as i said, just like common headache!
why does a wisdom tooth causes us pain during its eruption? because they get out the time that our bones has completely matures. some has it as early as at the age of 17, some as late as 55! (my mom is in this category.. bless her!) if you have it early then good for you. it wouldnt cause that much pain. but if its later in life... aduhhhhhsss.. it wouldnt just give you jaw ache, but headache combined! and mind you, this tooth gets out little by little. means, it could take years before it can fully get out. thus moving to my next point:
wisdom tooth, because of its habit of erupting just a little bit at one time, is a favourite place for food to get stuck. if we dont clean it thoroughly, then bacteria build up will cause swollen gum at its area. we might accidentally bite on this swollen gum and the pain will be a little bit intense. sometimes, if this swollen gum is not reduced, infection will occurs. so maybe at first you're just moody because you have toothache. now, with infection, you might just become unexplainably fiery! because i practice prevention rather than cure, i would suggest you invest about 6 ringgit on children's toothbrush. because of the toothbrush's small head, it has proven to be effective in cleaning our wisdom teeth and its surrounding area. the regular sized toothbrush somehow fails to reach that area.
but some of us are not so lucky because there's simply not enough space anymore for another tooth in our cute little mouth. those with no space are the most unfortunate of all: the pain causes by erupting wisdom tooth hurts almost like childbearing. (well, almost ya, but not quite!) the reason: the tooth is not going out upward, but tilted and pushing the sides of the tooth next to it. we just dont have any choice with this. it's such a nuisance, it simply has to go. out. from our mouth.
the fortunate
the not-so-fortunate
the completely unfortunatebut how? that's why i call us "unfortunate". i do wish there is, but there's no other way, except for removing it surgically. but we do have choices.. that is whether we want to do it under general anaesthesia (fully knocked-out) or local anaesthesia (we're awake, but near-zero pain). who decides this? you! but of course, get your dentist's opinion. we can tell you which choice is the best choice for you.
makes me wonder, you know, if it gets out just to be taken out, why is it called the wisdom teeth?
hey, dont hate the teeth. it does have its own role. it's a spare teeth to those who needs it. our molars (or gigi geraham) is the most important teeth during chewing. so it doesnt hurt to have a spare, just in case, isn't it? :)