I thought this would be the perfect time to write this
considering I got a tooth extracted today due to it being broken and then getting a cavity and starting to die inside my mouth, ouch… My #2 tooth to be exact. Yep, if you didn’t
know it, your teeth are numbered. Starting at the upper right side of your
mouth with your “wisdom tooth” (which I no longer have, but it is still
apparently commemorated by having a numbered place in my mouth!) Then it moves
along the upper left then down to the lower left and finally the lower right.
It doesn’t even matter that I never had all four wisdom teeth – I only had
three. That tooth my mouth never experienced still gets a number.
Here’s a handy dandy chart to help explain this for all of
you visual learners out there!
Photo credit: studyblue.com
Here are a few definitions, if you even care lol, to spare
you a run to Google/(or Bing if you like free rewards just for searching!):
Mandibular: Pertaining to the mandible, which is the lower
jaw bone.
Maxillary: Pertaining to the maxilla - surprise, surprise it’s
the upper jaw bone.
Anterior: Toward the front (especially of the human body).
Posterior: Opposite of anterior, to the back of the body.
So, lucky number two got pulled. It is soooo lucky that it is
located suuuuuper close to the maxillary sinus which you now know from my
earlier defining that is the sinus inside the upper jaw. It is specifically
located below the eye and down to just where the roots of the teeth begin… but
what I learned today is that some people’s roots can extend into the sinus because
they are missing a small section that separates them unscientifically called
the “bony floor” or that bony-floor-ness can be damaged during the removal
process of the tooth. I basically found this all out because my allergies suck
and I had to blow my nose several hours after surgery… and there was what
looked like a massive amount of blood pouring out of my right nostril which is
now is a tiny flow without forcing it. Now that the numbing agents have worn
off, I can also feel air in my mouth when I breath through my nose. Another
possible side effect is beverages coming out of my nose when I drink which I am
reeeeeally not looking forward to! Now it’s outrageously important that I
follow extra “sinus precautions” which include the normal post-op precautions
of not drinking with a straw, no carbonated drinks or hot food/beverages, gauze
the area until it stops bleeding and change it ever hour, a soft-food diet, ice
my chipmunk cheek, take the pain meds/antibiotic as directed, and to start
rinsing my mouth with the prescribed rinse every 3-4 hours after 24 hours. The
sinus precautions are that I cannot AT ALL blow my nose, I can only hold a
tissue to it and take allergy/sinus medicine to control my drippy-ness, I must
open my mouth if I must sneeze, and not to do anything that would cause
pressure in my sinus cavity such as flying in pressurized planes, scuba diving,
blowing up balloons, bearing down on teeth when lifting things, playing
instruments that you have to use airflow for, or anything that might cause
pressure in the mouth or nose. My favorite recommendation from my oral surgeon
was “eat LOTS of ice cream!”
I hoped you learned at least a little something here today! I do my best to give you guys some lagniappe!
Time to eat some
mac & cheese on the left side of my mouth, drink sweet tea with no straw, and follow it with pain meds and an ice pack! Have a better night than me, lol!
Kay Cheesy, out!!
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