I know the foto has nothing to do with what I am about to write, but I like the foto.
I wrote one of my last posts about how frustrating it has been to find a good dentist here. Last time I wrote was a couple of weeks ago after I had a wisdom tooth removed. The day after I had no pain but two days after I felt like my mouth was on fire. I had set an appointment for Gavea Dental Clinic the following week to get the other wisdom tooth pulled.
The problem is the dentist in Gavea, I found only works at this specific clinic on Wednesdays. July 22nd is when the first tooth was removed and I was set to return on Wednesday July 29th but I didn't make it. I ended up returning to the Gavea dental office on Monday July 27th as I was in such pain, I could not handle it anymore. I spoke to the receptionist and she had me see a different dentist in the clinic. I explained to her that my dentist did not get me any medication but I never asked for any either. I thought I could handle the pain or soreness from the tooth being removed. At least thats what I thought but no, I couldn't. She ended up giving me an anti biotic to prevent any possible infection and a anti inflammatory drug. I took both for a week and still pain. I could not open my mouth completely and was thinking maybe something was wrong.
On Monday August 3rd I decided to go to another clinic in Sao Conrado (just outside the favela) for another opinion. Why was it taking so long to heal and why so much pain? Another problem was that I couldn't completely open my mouth. It felt like the hinge on my jaw was locked. It made eating very difficult and still painful. So to this new clinic I went.
I got to see the dentist Dr. Lobo and he gave me advice on what was going on. He asked me how long a process was it for the dentist to remove the tooth. I told him it took the other dentist after numbing the area about a good 15-20 minutes to remove the tooth. Dr. Lobo told me that this is why the healing is taking so long. I do remember the heavy manipulation of my jaw and head by the dentist so I guess the new dentist has a point. He told me that with bottom teeth at the back of the mouth are deep rooted and more difficult to remove. I told him that I want to be able to open my mouth more and without pain. He prescribed a muscle relaxer and anti inflammatory as well. What a F'n process just for one tooth.
Yesterday I returned to Gavea Clinic and told them that I prefer that I don't have any pain before removing the second tooth. And it was still difficult to open mouth wide enough for work to be done.
Today, I woke up (Thursday August 6th) and much less pain and I can open my mouth a little further without severe pain. I am hoping pain will be gone within a week and I can open my mouth completely before getting the second tooth removed.
After that I have three more things to do, restore one tooth, get a few implants and a bridge so I can have a new set of choppers! Then I can begin to attack other health issues like joining the gym and dropping about 25 kilos!
