My Wisdom Teeth
Just rambling this week
Shocking fact about me - I still have all of my wisdom teeth. I’m not a medical anomaly, my wisdom teeth didn’t just grow in perfectly without any intervention needed. My wisdom teeth did what wisdom teeth are supposed to do - they all either poked out just a little bit or they stayed put, causing problems I don’t even understand. One of the partly-surfaced teeth is hard to brush so it’s had a little cavity on it for probably a decade. The crowding or whatever occasionally causes swelling and pain but only a couple of times a year and it always goes away quickly.
The reason I never had them removed was a combination of poor judgement, economical/societal failures, and FATE. Google tells me that the ideal time to have your wisdom teeth removed is between the ages of 17-25. I dropped out of high school at 17 and have been independantish since then. I didn’t have health or dental insurance for most of those prime wisdom teeth years. I worked crummy jobs and never had extra money for it. At one point in my early 20s, my friend Amity (literally this Amity) and I were talking about wisdom teeth and I told her I still had mine. She grabbed me by the shoulders, looked deep into my eyes and said “You need to get them out now! It’s better to pay $1000 out of pocket now than for them to get really screwed up and cost $10,000 for emergency dental surgery after they get infected.” This didn’t convince me to get them removed but it did cause me to live in fear that my teeth were going to kill me or bankrupt me.
Flash forward a decade and I finally had a stable job with benefits and I start regularly going to a dentist. A real dentist, not the dental school. This begins the humiliating parade of getting routine teeth cleanings and telling every dental hygienist I encounter that I still have my wisdom teeth for them to act horrified and tell me in the gravest terms how awful it is that I’ve neglected them for so long. When you go to dental school is there a separate class dedicated just to shaming your patients?
Guys, my dental hygiene is great. I brush. I floss. I don’t smoke or eat candy. My teeth are fine. I have had only a handful of cavities in my adult life. I don’t want you thinking that I have yucky teeth. The wisdoms are there, the rest of my teeth are a little crooked, but everything is fine.
I finally gave in. In the early 2010s I made an appointment to get my wisdoms taken out. It took some mental preparation. I was nervous! A week before the appointment my dentist’s office called to tell me that my dentist was retiring. I would have to reschedule. I put it off for another two years. I had a new dentist. He was cool. He didn’t make me feel guilty. We made a plan to do the procedure. This time I was REALLY nervous. I took time off of work for recovery. I bought a bunch of soup, yogurt, and other soft foods. Lilly drove me to the appointment and I’m being the bravest little guy. They take me into the exam area and give me a basic teeth cleaning. I’m confused. The staff performs a normal check-up. I ask if they are going to do the procedure and they say no, they only had a cleaning scheduled. There was a mix-up in the system and they had no idea I was supposed to have my wisdom teeth out. I was furious. I rescheduled through gritted (still over-crowded) teeth. A month later the office sends me a letter saying that my dentist was retiring early due to a terminal illness.
Then and pandemic happened. Then I started my own business and didn’t have dental insurance. Five years pass so quickly.
At the beginning of this year I finally got set up with a new dental office. I made an appointment for my wisdoms to come out in March. The week of the appointment I came down with a nasty cold and my entire family got head lice. I reschedule for Wednesday, May 13th. Today. I’m currently writing this newsletter instead of getting my wisdom teeth out. On Monday they called and said (confusingly) “No one will be in the office on Wednesday.” WHY? The universe wants these cursed teeth to remain in my head. My new appointment is to have them out in July. I have no faith in that actually happening.
Here’s a little palate cleanser - we went to the New Hampshire Renaissance Faire this weekend and it was pretty cool. I brought a camera but I didn’t really take any pictures at the actual Faire. There were so many men walking around with cameras who I’m sure were just there to take pictures of girls. I didn’t want to add to the CWC (Creep With a Camera) vibe. We all got hangry and had a little picnic in the parking lot after. I got some photos of that.
I have a bunch of shoots this weekend so things will be back to normal in next week’s newsletter. I promise I won’t mention my teeth at all. Unless that’s what the people want…..