Oral Surgery - Part 2

Monday was the day.  I must have been the last appointment of the day because my car was the only car left in the lot by the time the surgeon was done with me  :-D

You might recall that I had to have a tooth pulled back in early February.  They packed the hole that was left when I lost that tooth (and the space created by the infection that was eating away at my jaw) with bone graft material, and on Monday I went back to have the implant post put in.  It didn't really take all that long, and the shots are the worst part, but it was quite an ordeal.  I mean, they drill into your jaw!

The implant post is in, and, so far, the recovery process is substantially easier than it was from the extraction.  The antibiotic this time is still amoxicillin, but it's in a capsule rather than a pill, and seriously, it must be stronger than the pills because my body reacted to it within hours instead of a couple of days (which is my usual with an antibiotic).  I swear that every bit of gut flora I had must be gone, because I have been urgently pooping water (pretty much) for two and half days now.  TMI?  Ugh.  I know it's important to have an antibiotic with any kind of oral surgery, but man, it's hard on a body. 

Don't let anyone tell you that it's "just" oral surgery.  I didn't have a general, but Novocain isn't my favorite thing, and it is jarring to be doing your best to hold your jaw still when they are jackhammering into it.  It's short bursts, but still . . . it's seriously invasive and I have foreign metal in my jaw now!  See?

 

J asked if I thought it would set off the metal detectors at the airport . . .  :-D

It looks like it's on the left, but that X-ray is taken from the front, so the post is actually on the right side of my jaw.  As mentioned, the procedure was over relatively quickly, and the surgeon packed some more bone graft around the post to help my jaw even more.  You can see on this photo that my own jaw did grow back and fill in the hole that infection and loss of tooth had caused. 

Like last time, I am very tired by the end of the day (surgery, remember?) so I know that my body is doing it's best to keep up not only with healing, but also with the mess the antibiotic is making in my digestive system. My jaw is much more swollen this time - probably from the jackhammering.  Which brings me to the best part of the whole thing.  I got a boo-boo buddy to ice with this time that's filled with glitter!!  Wheeee!  :-D  :-D

And it's teal glitter!!!  What could be better???  :-D  

I truly hope this is the last weird thing I need to deal with.  I mean, there will be a third part to this saga, but I don't think it will involve actual surgery.  In September I will need to get a crown to fill that space.  A spendy crown.  On top of two oral surgeries, visits to two endodontists, and the root canal that started it all back in December 2019.  The first surgery healed up really well and now I have stitches again and I start all over with soft food (a lot of Kraft dinner again . . . ) and chewing on one side and plenty of salt-water rinsing, and keeping my tongue away from it, and just generally being careful until it heals up again.  It feels like a really big hole in my mouth - like you could drive a fricking truck through it  :-D  An expensive fricking truck.  This has been a long and spendy journey . . . 

So simple.  So brilliant . . . enjoy.