The thought of death have entered my thoughts here and there before, but this was the first time I really thought about pain and dying. The pain was real. I still can’t believe I let a tiny (not so much) thing like that torture me for two hours.
Yes, I got my first wisdom tooth taken out about two weeks ago. Yes, I admit I underestimated the procedure of taking out one single tooth. And.. yes, it hurt like heck. I didn’t even remember I had to take out my tooth until that Monday morning when my mom yelled at me while I was singing in the shower (more like screaming to release stress).
“NANI YATTERUNO??! ATO 30 PUN DE IKUYO!!” which translates to “WHAT ARE YOU DOING??! YOU HAVE A DENTIST APPOINTMENT IN 30 MINUTES!!” in Japanese.
On the way to the dentist, she was lecturing me about how she hates people who are loose on time and told me I was lacking responsibility. It’s interesting how some adults take 20 minutes to repeat one thing over and over. I wonder if they think teenagers have listening problems. Or maybe they have some things going on in their lives and are just stressed out like we all are. I had some things to say back, but I apologized and remained quiet throughout the entire ride.
I walked in the front door of the dental office. I love how waiting rooms are so welcoming; there’s magazines everywhere, toys for little kids to play with, a nice lady smiling at you as you walk in. But when you take one step farther into the deeper door, this cold chilly “laboratory” awaits you.
“I feel great, I can take on anything right now! I mean it’s just taking out one tooth, how bad can it hurt? I even have my lucky bracelet on.”
When the lady led me into the “lab” and made me sit on the operation chair with the dentist standing right next to it, I felt something was different. The usual warm, gentle guy with a nice smile who’d ask how school was, was gone. He took a look at me, nodded with a quick smile, and went back to a serious face. I took a deep breath and laid down.
Whenever I come to the dentist, whenever I’m hurting, I think of pain as an illusion. It might sound crazy, but I think of this world we live in as the “fake” world and the real world is the afterlife. Not that I think this life I’m living isn’t important, more like an opportunity for people to develop themselves or their souls. Basically, death isn’t the end.
But sometimes, even for me, the pain is too much for me to consider it an illusion.
As I felt Dr. Y and his assistant working on my tooth with cold metal bars, I kept repeating to myself that pain is an illusion. I told myself, “You’ve survived through a chipped ankle, a broken spine, lots of injuries, you can take this.” I formed my hand into a tight fist and held onto my bracelet.
My worst nightmare came when Dr. Y started pulling on my wisdom tooth with all his strength. I mean, with all this advanced technology today in the medical field, it still resorts to the old, traditional style of just pulling with a giant metal plier looking thing. Wow!
I thought about what actual death would be like if I’m alive right now going through this pain. I thought, if I die right now, I’d be okay with it. But at the same time, 16 years is just way too short and I’d be missing out on all the wonderful things for the rest of my life and I wouldn’t trade that for a one time “pain relief.” I also thought that the worst form of torture is by someone tying you onto a chair so you can’t move and have them pull out your teeth one by one.
The story jumps a little, but during English class, my teacher assigned a 2-3 months long innovation project and gave us couple ways to get inspired and think of ideas. I chose to go outside and as I laid down under a tree and took the period to feel the moment, I noticed that everything falls in place so perfectly like it was planned. The building, the people, trees, grasses, benches, trashcans, the wind, clouds—
So, going back to the wisdom tooth. It was just one tooth they took out. One. But the fact that it hurt so much made me think about how everything falls in place. Everything, no matter how big or small, is there, and taking a little piece of it means a lot. Most of us have a healthy body with two legs, two arms, and a face. At first glance, people might think we don’t need fingernails. But imagine not having one. You can’t.
I just wanted to get this out there and share my experience of getting a wisdom tooth out. Good luck if you’re planning on getting them out!
storyofme7 
Interesting that you decided to talk about wisdom teeth. I remember taking out teeth for my braces. But I doubt they hurt at much as in your case because their roots weren’t as deep. Remember to never give up, never surrender. And you kind of don’t with all of those injuries you have endured. Well, teeth removing is just a problem for now. When you’re old, I think teeth just fall out. 🙂
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It’s kind of crazy how one tooth gone can throw off your body. Yeah I’m grateful for everything 🙂
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Reblogged this on "Hang"-ing In There and commented:
I have known this blogger since the 4th grade, and she is one of the smartest, most interesting, and EXTREMELY unique people I have ever met. Those points of hers gives her the ability to write amazing blog posts (or anything). In this post, she talks about getting her wisdom tooth pulled out- doesn’t sound that interesting right? However, she goes on and talks about the pain she felt with mocking words comparing it to death. Her blog is kind of similar to mine due to the fact that sometimes she shares personal experiences (her life can be made into a movie, it’s THAT interesting) and gives readers a bit of advice on what to do when in that situation. With that being said, EVERYONE should drop what they’re doing and check out her blog post.
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