Tooth Implant

(Disclaimer : This article contains procedures on Dental works that might be upsetting. Feel free to skip it if isn't convinience to read.Thank you)

It was happening on Tuesday. Yesterday.

I am schedule for dental surgery on 10.30am. I’ve been prepared everything the night before. Checking my son’s school bag so I won’t get headache in the morning. Checking every single thing for my daughter meal. Brekkie, lunch and all the tools. My husband will take over all of meal time task for our baby girl, I don’t want to bother him with simple thing like couldn’t find the spoon or the bib when the baby screaming hungrily.

So, everything set. Perfectly. I just have to drop my son to pre-school and walked to the dentist. His pre-school and dentist place both at the Uni, so won’t be a big deal.
That was the plans.

Thing always happen on the last minutes. Even when I think I did enough preparation. This is what happened:

8.30 : Wake Up ( I couldn’t sleep last night, only catch 2 hours slept, woke up for sahur, tried to

back to sleep, fall asleep on 6am)

9.10 : Called the dentist office. Make a confirmation. And make sure I can pay with my personal

cheque. Everything fine.

9.15 : Made myself a bowl of porridge for brekkie (sorry, I am not fasting. I am breastfeeding)

9.30 : Dentist assistant rang. Ask me to bring OPG to the Dentist.

9.35 : OPG?
(Tried to think, what kind of X-Ray it is. And where I kept it)

9.40 : Pulled every-single-document from dentist on my dental folder. Nothing. Not even sight of X-Ray result.

9.45 : Frantically rang dentist office. Tried to explain that I did not have it, and pretty sure they keep it for me.
They insisted I took it home on my last visit.

9.50 : Dentist assistant rang me again. Asking me to do OPG (I even don’t know what OPG stands for) before coming in. She’ll fax the reference letter straight to Sydney X-Ray.

10.00 : Dragged my son out of home. Tried to get a taxi. Thanks God. Alhamdulillah, got taxi easily.

10.00 – 10.15 : Dropped my son on his pre-school, just to get another thing pop out. My son computer lesson move from Monday morning –which was Public Holiday- to Tuesday morning. I didn’t know about this. So, my son was late, and they waiting for my son for the lesson (what a good mum I am)

10.18 : Arrived at Sydney X-Ray. 5 people before me on queue

10.20 : Dentist office rang. I’m not even move one step to registration desk.

10.30 : Registration desk.
Tried to explain to staff about reference letter been faxed. She looked unhappy, because I gave her more things to do: finding the letter. She found it in 2mins. Started begging her to give me priority, so I won’t late for the surgery (I already late anyway…)

10.35 : X-Ray
(2 minutes waiting to be called. That was very quick!)

10.50 : X-Ray result on my hand. Rang dentist office, told them I’m on my way.

10.50 – 11.05 : RUN
(Half running – half walking from Sydney X-Ray to Dentist Place. Not to bad,

15mins for about 1 kilometer)

11.10 : Sat down on dentist chair –finally-. I still tried to catch my breath (since I never run or jog in the last 5 years) when they start to numbing my whole left side of my mouth.

I’ve been to dentist since 4 years old. Or maybe before. I am a regular. So, dentist chair or the lights and sound of the driller never intimidated me. Until yesterday. It was different. They doing my teeth implant, and this is the first step. My dentist had to put the screw inside my jawbone. Two screws in one go. Why? Because I asked him to do so. For the sake of money, one go is cheaper –not to mention about saving time, don’t have to go back and forth-

It was unpleasant to felt the big driller made a hole on the jawbone. I felt my body bit shaking. I had such a small jawbone so they had to do it carefully. It’s like there a helicopter flying inside my mouth. Noisy and shaking. After that, the put the screw on, and hammering the screw into the bone (please, do not try to imagine it). Doesn’t hurt me, I am numb. Just the feeling that the hammer constantly bounce into my jawbone, I am scarily feeling that all of my perfect normal teeth will be broken because of it.

I felt I’ve been sitting on dentist chair for years when it finished. It only took one hour. He said everything fine and running perfectly. I just have to come back in one week to do checking. And back again in 4-6 month to put the crowns on top of it. Still long way to go.

Since I still have one more tooth to put an implant, I have to prepare myself to deal with driller and hammer. I just want to have all my teeth back. I don’t want to do all of this back home in Indonesia. Not because I don’t trust Indonesian Dentist. Purely about insurance. I can get –not much though- my insurance to pay this expense. Dental-things are so expensive.

Wait until next week, and I’ll share the story.