The Anonymous Widower

Taking The Plunge

I have had a bad molar tooth on the left hand side of my jaw for many years.  Various dentists had attempted to fill it, but since the stroke, it had always given me a sort of dull pain.  Not too serious but annoying anyway. I remember I asked my dentist in Felixstowe to have a look at it about eighteen months ago. He thought it might be a root canal job.

My new dentist in London, looked at it a couple of weeks ago and said that if it was him, he’d have the tooth out.  after all, I lost the one on the other side about thirty years ago and it doesn’t cause me any problem.

So we decided to do the dirty deed on Wednesday the 14th!

Well that was the intention, but because of problems with my Warfarin and different views about how to handle it, my dentist and I decided that perhaps it might be better to use the Emergency Dentist at either the Royal London or Guys.

To me it wasn’t a choice, as the Royal London is just four stops away on the Overground from Dalston Junction.  Guys is South of the river and I didn’t have a posse handy. I also have a lot of respect for the hospital, as Vanessa Wright and her team, saved the life of my granddaughter, who was born with a severe hole in her diaphragm.

I got to the Emergency Dentist department at about one and after giving my details and outlining my story, I was with a dentist by two. I was then X-rayed and by three, they were preparing to take out the errant tooth.

In the end they were very mob-handed.  A female Chinese student originally from Hong Kong and a more experienced one probably from near the hospital, did most of the work.

But it got difficult and the Senior Tutor helped by effectively cutting the tooth in half, so they could dig it out bit-by-bit. It finally was removed  just after 17:15.

It wasn’t too painful and they didn’t use any stitches.  It was probably one of the most serious operations I’ve ever had without a full anaesthetic. Although being stitched up after my mugging in Naples was probably a lot more painful.

I suspect, I self-hypnotised myself by concentrating on the student’s eyes.

I got home OK, walking after the train from Whitechapel to Dalston Junction.

I thought I needed some cash for the morning, so I walked round the corner to the little Sainsburys.  However, I then found that I didn’t need the money after all, so I came home.

As I crossed the zebra crossing, an ambulance stopped and waved towards me.  I thought they were just asking me to cross, so I did.

It was only when I got home, that I realised that they might have been worried about me, as I had a rather bloody face and I was dabbing it with a bloody tissue. I did phone 101 to tell the Police, in case the ambulance had reported a mugging or assault.

After the football, I couldn’t sleep and now I’m sitting here typing, as a doctor has told that to lie down, will start the bleeding in the pocket again.

At least I had a clean tea-towel, which I’m cutting into small squares to mop up the blood.

The only thing , I’ve eaten is a couple of bananas.

December 13, 2011 - Posted by AnonW | Health | Dentists, Pain, Royal London Hospital