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the sunday after xmas I was snacking on some crackers and cheese spread and bit down on something hard. not super unusual, the crackers that we eat have lots of stuff in and on them.

but about 10 minutes later i got this horrible pain in my mouth, right above my top right incisor. but when i put a warm compress on that spot, the pain seemed to migrate back into my jaw.

it lasted ALL AFTERNOON and didn't stop until i laid on top of a heating pad, with the heat over my ear.

I was not thinking teeth at all, i was thinking maybe a sinus infection or ear infection. Pain went away Monday/Monday night and all day Tuesday. In the middle of the night on Tuesday the pain in my upper jaw actually woke me up! Heating pad again, 2 Xtra strength tylenol and back to sleep i went.

Called the dentist on NYE, they couldn't see me till 1/5. Pain came and went, moving along the top of my jaw, always seeming to settle in the jaw bone.

Saturday night was terrible, but I made it to the dentist appointment and after a bunch of xrays they found....NOTHING.

so, she decided all of this was due to grinding my teeth at night. Yes, I do this and have done it for years, we've been talking about a nightguard since 2010, clearly its time.

while fitting me for the nightguard she used this cool camera that basically made a 3D model of my teeth. She was showing me the images, and when I looked at the picture, my wisdom tooth just looked UGLY. I said to the dentist, "wow, that wisdom tooth looks really bad!" and she actually looks at it and agrees. She then takes a close look at it - and IT'S BROKEN IN HALF!!! and then she says, "yeah, there's a big old cavity in there."

she wasn't looking at my wisdom tooth because I was feeling the pain closer to the front of my mouth, but it explains why the pain seemed to radiate.

And of course, a dentist doesn't do wisdom tooth removal, an ORAL SURGEON has to do that. thankfully i was able to secure an appointment for tomorrow at 1:45 for a consultation AND extraction.

the pain is not fun, i hate taking SO MUCH tylenol and the broken tooth is literally slicing my gums and inside my cheek every time i open my mouth. and grinding on a broken wisdom tooth in the middle of the night also hurts.

(and no, I don't know where the piece/pieces of my tooth went, but i have a good idea and that's freaking me out a bit, as well.)

AND it will be done under local not general because i throw up after general surgery and would rather not be put under. I'll take a lorazepam before I go to make sure I don't freak out.

52 years old and having a wisdom tooth taken out. it's not impacted and i'm not 14. this may suck quite a bit, my friends.