I interrupt your wait for my 2nd HS reunion post and more Halloween costume pics to bring you this “normal life” post.
I discovered that I had an infection in a tooth I’d had a root canal in over 20 years ago. There wasn’t any pain or blatant signs of infection, so I didn’t notice it until it had gotten so bad the tooth had to be pulled. I then put it off for a month, since I had my vacation to go on and my HS reunion to attend and I didn’t want to go looking all toothless and country. My sister called me “vain,” and I agree with her assessment completely, but want to add that in my opinion there are enough toothless people in Lake County, IL without my adding to their ranks.
Tuesday after work, I went to see my dentista, Dr. Jorge Armenta, whose office is on Avenida 30 and the corner of Calle 6. Dr. Armenta has been my dentist since I moved here and is absolutely wonderful, very gentle and soothing. His office is small, but he goes out of his way to accommodate your needed appointment times and is available by cell phone almost anytime.
Pointing to my left 2nd rear molar for the last time. It had a porcelain crown on it that closely matched the color of my other teeth, so imagine my shock when I saw what the “underneath” parts of a tooth look like. I couldn’t bring myself to take pictures of that ugly brownish-yellow thing.
During the 6 minutes or so I sat in Dr. Armenta’s waiting room, my nervous ass must have read every word on that restaurant billboard across the street about 324 times.
Dr. Armenta, doing his GQ pose as I demanded. He’s handsome and kind.
He did another x-ray just so I could show it to you on my blog. I don’t know if you can tell, but the infection ate away a lot of the roots of the capped tooth, as well as some of the surrounding bone in my jaw. When Dr. Armenta finally got the tooth out, it pulled all of the infection with it, and since he knows how fascinated I am with gross things, he showed me the pus sac and everything. It was cool, but then I felt a little faint and had to lie back down.
The executioner posing for a photo with me just before the beheading.
I’m not that happy at the dentist; even for cleanings I grip my hands together very tightly. Michael was amused to see that during an extraction, I also hold my feet at weird angles and move them around from side to side.
The procedure itself wasn’t too bad. I had so much Novocaine I couldn’t feel my mouth for the next 4 hours. Dr. Armenta is so deft with the shots that I never felt a thing. He told me that he’s so good at them because in dental school, he and his best friend practiced on each other over and over again.
The worst thing about the extraction was the sort of ripping sound it made when he pried the tooth out of my jaw. I wasn’t too keen on the “shaving of the jawbone” part, either, but in almost no time, it was done and I was home with my painkillers and antibiotics.
Dr. Armenta is easily the best dentist I’ve ever had and I’ve never had a bad experience in his dental chair. Maybe because Dr. Armenta is not just my dentist, he’s also my good friend, Jorge:
In addition to dental school, I’m pretty sure he also attended Master Barbecuing School. Thanks, Jorge, I’ll see you on Saturday!
(*this is what time the Chinese man went to the dentist)
Poor Baby. I hate dentists but he sounds like somebody I could visit if needed.
By: islagringo on October 16, 2008
at 9:07 pm
I want to see the pus bag.
By: Jerry on October 16, 2008
at 9:26 pm
You a good girl, did ya get a sucker?
By: jacquelinawonders on October 16, 2008
at 10:21 pm
Ick I hate dentists. I’m avoiding getting the root canal I need…partly cuz I don’t have insurance right now and even w/insurance it’s too frickin expensive. Glad you had a good experience. And don’t listen to Becky…I wouldn’t have gone on vacay toothless either.
By: teetle on October 16, 2008
at 10:48 pm
Islagringo: He’s wonderful, as far as dentists go.
Jerry: I didn’t take a photo of it, sorry! It wasn’t THAT impressive, but combined with the bloody gore and the color of my tooth it made for an interesting tableau.
Jacquelina: NO! But he did give me permission to eat sorbet for three days straight, so that’s better than a sucker if you ask me.
Teetle: You could always fly here for your dental work; it’s much less expensive even with airfare. Want me to check on the cost of a root canal, you could have that on your last day of vacation…haha!
By: heatherinparadise on October 16, 2008
at 11:04 pm
What time is it you ask ??
Tooth-hurty : )
ding ding ding
No one else got it? I feel either really brilliant or really dumb for answering. Not sure.
: )
By: Friday on October 16, 2008
at 11:17 pm
Well done, Friday! Way to get my juvenile humor, now I don’t feel so alone.
By: heatherinparadise on October 16, 2008
at 11:22 pm
Ooooh, Heather, so sorry about the tooth trauma … but I just want to second your recommendation of Dr. Jorge Armenta!
I broke a molar while in Playa a couple of years ago, and he was able to take an impression of my tooth and give me a temporary filling that evening. I then went to Majahual for three days, and when I returned, he fitted me with a porcelain crown for a fraction of the price it would have cost me in Los Angeles, and a lot faster. Almost painless, too! (And Bradley took photos of me in the chair, with Jorge … I’m glad to see that you and Michael are as strange as we are about documenting “interesting” events.)
I would fly down specifically for a “dental vacation” if I had serious work to be done. Plus he’s such a great friend, and I just adore him. I expect you’ll be able to eat whatever you like before you know it, but enjoy all the sorbet you can while you have an excuse!
By: Peggy Sue on October 17, 2008
at 2:13 am
Did I meet Jorge at the bbq grill at Sarah’s?
By: James on October 17, 2008
at 8:48 am
Peggy Sue: Yes, he is WONDERFUL. And I’m almost out of sorbet, gotta get more. The Haggen Dazs Mango sorbet was on sale for only 30 pesos a pint!!
James: You did. He was the grill master, as usual. Wonderful human being, he is (like you !).
By: heatherinparadise on October 17, 2008
at 8:51 am
Chicago flag REPRESENT!
By: trucker on October 17, 2008
at 9:00 am
Oh, you poor kid!! Reminds me of the time, many years ago, when I was seven months pregnant with my son, and the dentist was hammering my jaw trying to get my wisdom tooth out. I can still remember him yelling at the nurse, “more suction” as the blood was pouring down my throat. Hopefully you will not need any more teeth pulled. The one thing I like about going to the dentist is having my teeth cleaned. My dental hygenist loves to talk so the time just flies by.
By: Darla on October 17, 2008
at 10:34 am
I LOVE Jorge! I just went for the first time this week for a cleaning, and he is just such a sweetie pie:)Plus he IS the grill master….makes the Best.Wings.Ever.
By: Sara on October 17, 2008
at 11:28 am
Good to know it all went well. I do the same thing with my feet..LOL
By: purpledragonfly on October 17, 2008
at 1:36 pm
I remember watching him get the grill ready for the indian chicken you had slaved all day getting ready and thinking, “there is NO WAY he is going to get those coals going. Heather is going to explode.”
And, it was perfect.
By: James on October 17, 2008
at 3:46 pm
Heather Ellen!! Why didn’t you let me know? You could have had it done here for free. I see the infection. Too bad you had to loose it. Good thing you didn’t feel it. Sometimes the infection can get so bad that it laughs at novacaine.
Once, a guy had such a bad infection we had to do a I&D (Incision and drainage) with a scalpal, right into the swelling, no anestetic, cut thru and I am not kidding GREEN puss came out. I couldn’t stop my reaction and exclaimed “awe cool” and Moy just looked at me as I pulled away shocked myself that I said it out loud. The patient, he never heard me, he was almost in shock from the pain, but almost instantly felt 100% better. You would be a good dental assistant. Well, except for the faint part, but the love of gore
By: Amy on October 17, 2008
at 9:27 pm
Trucker: Not only Chicago representin’, but Metro representin’, twice. Thank you for the free swag, Adam and Martina!
Darla: I have to admit that in small quantities, I kind of like the taste of blood. It’s metallic, or something.
Sara: Yay, we love Jorge!
Purpledragonfly: Thanks! Good to know I’m not alone.
James: You know me so well. I would have freaked out if the grill hadn’t lit. But not all over anyone, it would have been the quiet freakout where I just can’t let shit go. Like Woody Allen, only a girl.
Amy: I kind of forgot that it was something I should tell you. I would never have asked you to do that for me! But yeah, I think it would be kind of cool to see all that gross shit. The reason I got faint, I think, is because I was the one who’d just had her tooth yanked out. I don’t think it was because I saw the pus, ’cause the pus, that was cool.
By: heatherinparadise on October 17, 2008
at 10:00 pm
Is that tooth #19! That tooth is the bane of my dental existence… 3 root canals, 2 crowns… and then the tooth next to it went haywire too… Ryan in the 3rd grade lost tooth #19….
Good riddance, I say!! (
(and where’s the pus sac pic???)
By: charmarie221 on October 17, 2008
at 11:40 pm
Yeah it’s tempting to set a separate vacay for dental work. Hmm I’ll keep that in mind.
And don’t tell anyone but I too like the taste of blood sometimes. Gross huh?
By: teetle on October 18, 2008
at 12:51 am
Oh, man… having gone through my own personal dentist telenovela lately I could only wish that Dr Armenta was my dentist too!!.
My strategy is simple: I keep my eyes SHUT the entire time I’m sitting on that chair. I don’t want to look at what tools or what utensils are going into my mouth, I don’t want to know when the shot is coming and I DEFINETLY don’t want to take a look at those plyers!!
Fned.
By: Fned on October 18, 2008
at 9:48 am
I twitch my feet around in the dentist’s chair too! I’m glad you got it taken care of, dental problems are the worst and so bad when you let them go for too long. I had a small bottom front tooth pulled before I got invisalign. I didn’t feel a thing in my mouth, but the dentist was literally pulling my jaw back and forth, back and forth, wiggling it out. Yeesh. I saved it too, is that weird?
By: Martina on October 19, 2008
at 9:52 pm