Fangs for nothing

I've been a bit below par this week. It started the week before, when biting down on food made one tooth feel very funny indeed. It felt like had a small grain of something stuck to my tooth and when I bit down on it, a pain shot into my gum. I thought it must just be that it was extra sensitive for some reason, so soldiered on a couple of days until last Saturday I was brushing my teeth and a filling dropped out.

Sod's law it was the weekend and my dentist was not open. I had heard from a friend that you can buy temporary filling kits, so I nipped out to the local chemist and bought one. As Kay and her dentist husband live nearby, I popped in to ask if he might help me with the temporary filling until I could see my dentist. On investigation, he broke the bad news. The filling had fallen out because part of the tooth was cracked and would not hold a filling. As he was not in his surgery, he could not say without an xray whether the crack went below the gum or not, but, if it did, he feared the whole tooth would have to be extracted and would be unlikely to be saved. I must admit, I could feel the cracked side of the tooth wobbling terribly and every time I tried to talk or swallow, my tongue caught it and the wobbly bit sent a pain shooting into my head.

I soldiered on all that weekend, unable to eat or even drink properly and rang my dentist first thing Monday morning. Thankfully they were able to fit me in as an emergency, although I did not see my usual dentist but one of her junior staff. After an xray, the young dentist confirmed that the tooth was beyond saving as the crack did go well below the gum. I agreed to have the tooth extracted there and then. It took him well over 20 minutes to rock the little blighter back and forth, as it refused to budge. I even joked he might need to use gunpowder. I began to panic that he would never manage to extract it, as it did seem rather out of his depth to manage, when eventually he confirmed it was out.  I came out £270 poorer with a face looking like Quasimodo.

I've not been allowed to eat hot or chewy food or drink hot drinks for the last 6 days. The good news is, I've lost 3 pounds and reverted to my pre-Christmas weight. I've had a banging headache too which I think was due to all the pulling and tugging on my skull. I've even got a bruise on the outside of my cheek where the dentist tried to get more traction. I look as if I've done ten rounds with Mike Tyson. I've cancelled all gym classes and other engagements this week and felt sorry for myself. I'm hoping normality will resume this coming week.

But in the words of the poetess Pam Ayres ......