It's time to face the music...

I've been putting it off for three years. In November of 2006, my dentist suggested that I get my wisdom teeth removed, gave me a referral to the oral surgery center, and sent me on my way. I nodded politely, went home and stuffed the referral into a drawer, and didn't look at it again for almost three years.

I am scared. Where did this fear come from? I don't know! I have an intense fear of all things dental. I hate even getting my teeth cleaned. My husband has let my dentist office know this, and they take extreme care with me each time that I am in. I always get the seat with the TV so I can watch TV and take my mind off of what is being done. My dentist-who also happens to be a good friend of ours-constantly checks with me to make sure everything is going all right and even personally cleaned my teeth twice until I found a hygenist that I was comfortable with.

So, as you can imagine the idea of wisdom teeth extraction is SCARY indeed! The last time I went in to see my dentist, though, he said it's time. One of the teeth has broken through and is impacting the tooth beside it, which could cause some major problems, not to mention the fact that I am almost 30-yes, that's right, the big 3-0!-the point at which getting the teeth removed could be problematic due to denser bone and deeper roots. Ugh...

Today I saw the oral surgeon that will be doing the extraction. I was sitting in the waiting room reading through the pamphlet and when they called me in he said, "So, I see you need to get your wisdom teeth removed, how are you feeling about that?"

My reply, "I'm not thrilled..." in a deadpan voice. He laughed and said, "Yeah, I kind of figured that when I saw you looking through the pamphlet with a scared look on your face."

Why is this so scary? How could I endure 30+ hours of labour and having a child and yet be so scared of getting two wisdom teeth removed? These were the questions I asked him and he assured me that those feelings are actually more common than I think!

We discussed the positioning of the teeth and what the surgery would look like. He suggested I be put under lightly, since one of the teeth will require removal of bone and such. He also said it will probably help with my fears. I quickly agreed! I am not a person that has issues with anesthesia, so I'm all for a little snooze while I get the work done. Plus, Kevin will be taking the whole day off to take care of me, and I can go home and sleep the day away. It's an excuse to have the day to just lay in bed and rest...sounds pretty good, right?

Well, here I go. I'm finally going to face the fears of the tooth removal head on. I hope it goes well! I'm praying for no dry socket, infection, or anything else like that. A hint to those of you facing the same procedure...don't look it up on the Internet! It only gives you horror stories!!!