Fillings

I'm not sure how many of you have had Novocain in your mouths. Today, after the finding of my first cavities, I had my first fillings. And of course with any drilling which must take place in the mouth, the numbness of the nerves is paramount. I do not mind dentist and although not always comfortable with someone sticking their fingers into my mouth, I hold no resentment. I have had Novocain before, although not in my mouth, when I was much younger. I realize its importance and have experienced the weird sensations it can cause. So, although not exactly looking forward to my visit, I was not afraid or horrified by what I knew was going to happen. The knowledge that I was about to have my teeth cleaned and taken care of, well out weighed any loss of comfort.

However, I was not ready for the weird sensations and crazy feelings that the numbness would cause. After using some numbing jell, the dentist took a needle and injected first on one side and then the other. Seeing as I had two cavities, one in one wisdom tooth and one in the other, it was necessary to numb the whole bottom of my jaw. The first injection was alright, the first jab was felt as a prick, and little more. With the second injection the dentist unfortunately directly hit a nerve. There was a jab of pain and a weird cool branching feeling of the numbing. This numbness travelled around my bottom jaw, till my lower lip felt little more then a gelatinous mass.

Although I knew that my lower lip was well connected to my face, it felt (still feels at the moment) like a foreign intrusion. The nerves on my fingers feel my skin, but as my chin can not feel my finger, the disconnect is unsettling. Its almost like touching a very bad bruise or bread pudding that has gone bad. There is tension inherit in the skin, but it is relaxed and yielding to pressure, so that the texture seems weirdly foreign. I am reminded very quickly of the last time I had Novocain. At that time I was much younger, and it was my feet that felt foreign. The need of the numbness had be extreem, as I had run barefoot across and unfinished wooden deck. The splinters that found there way into my young feet had to be removed by the doctor. Some of the them were longer then my foot was thick, or at least that is how I remember it. And of course afterward, while waiting for the numbness to wear off, I had stumbled on feet, that I knew were there, but could not feel.

Of course I was much too young to really remember the feeling. Also the pain of the wounds and the unhappiness of the occasion made me less curious. Now, however, I am struck by the weirdness of the feeling. While I was sitting on the bus, I felt that everyone around me must think me as looking weird. Although I knew, after inspection in the bathroom before leaving the dentist's office, that I looked as normal as I ever have. Still the strange feeling that my chin, jaw, lip, and tongue could relate, left me feeling like some strange half faced monster as I rode the bus.

Talking is another matter. It is amazing how much trouble the letter 'f' gives a person when they have little control over their lower mouth. I found that I needed to spend extra attention on how to say something. While settling my bill at the dentist, I was amazed at how badly I was talking. It was annoying! I'm sure that they are used to people coming out with badly numbed faces trying to talk. But trying to talk with the use of only half of your mouth is a strange challenge. Add to this the fact that my lip feels about three times larger then it is and my tongue is weirdly half there.

Of course, as I rode home and even as I write now, the numbness is slowly ebbing away. It is replaced by the strange tingle of my nerves finding themselves slowly awakening. I feel slight tingles as they out and fight the cool strangeness that the injection induced. It reminds me of when my legs fall asleep on me and I must rudely wake them. Luckily the dentist assured me that the numbness would wear off in a short time. Which is good, because I have a Maundy Thursday service tonight. It would be hard to concentrate on anything if the whole lower half of my face was still gelatinous and foreign to the very person its attached to.

Anyone else have a dentist or Novocain related experience? Feel free to share...