TGIF - Tooth Troubles (Not Pretty)

I've almost but maybe not quite recovered from all the Xanax the oral surgeon gave me yesterday to prepare me for the extraction of my molar, so please bear with with me. The tooth is gone (but not forgotten) and the mechanical operation of my jaws and teeth has already returned to normal. I'd been having pain eating for almost three weeks, with teeth abnormally (and painfully) knocking against one another, my bite having been thrown off by the abscessed tooth, which on account of the pressure caused by the inflammation had been forced downward from its socket, no longer meshing properly with the other teeth. I could no longer bite down on the tooth without experiencing excruciating pain, in addition to being unable to tolerate extremes in temperature.

I love the oral surgeon, who's extracted some teeth before (mostly wisdom teeth). As usual, he didn't want me to experience any discomfort. Thus the Xanax and then more Xanax (at my request) and loads of Novocaine. He even insisted I eat some Twix (he also had Snickers) to stop me from trembling from the local anesthesia. (Have you ever known a dentist to administer candy as part of the treatment?) (He also offered sugar water as an alternative, which I declined.) But the minute he started drilling into the tooth to break it apart, I almost went through the roof (which he and his assistant duly noted). He said the abscess was still draining, and, after another shot of novocaine (?) and a long pause, I couldn't feel anything else afterward but pressure. The tooth subsequently came out rather cleanly in two or three pieces. He then showed me the browned abscessed area in the roots. He said it was good to have the tooth extracted then, since otherwise my whole face might have ended up swelling as it did two years ago while B. and I were on vacation in San Francisco and I had to make an emergency trip to a local dentist for antibiotics and painkillers (which made me nauseated). (Put a big damper on our lovely Wine Country trip!)

On that vacation I ended up having a massive abscess and upon returning to Miami had a wisdom tooth and the tooth next to it removed. The abscess meanwhile deteriorated a lot of bone, so the tooth that was extracted yesterday didn't have much of a foundation and basically no gums left on the back side and the roots were exposed, which left it open for infection. The tooth next to that one now--a premolar--has gums, however. I hope I won't have trouble with it. Now, however, I'm going to have to do most of my serious chewing on the other side of my mouth, where everything is intact except the wisdom teeth (which are essentially useless and very difficult to brush, unless you have no gag reflex).

Word to the wise--get rid of your wisdom teeth before they cause problems (mind you, I'm no dentist, so ask him or her about it).