Well, I had an interesting adventure today! As my family knows, I've been struggling with a tooth ache for awhile...and it hasn't been getting any better, but I've been putting off finding treatment as I have been on the move constantly for the last month...and I don't have a regular job, so finances are limited now. Anyway...God supplies our needs, as He promises! (Phil 4:19)
At church on Sabbath, they made the announcement that the Loma Linda School of Dentistry would be doing FREE dental work on anyone who came today to the school. Wow -praise the Lord!! One of our dental doctor friends here, Carlos, gave me the tip that this would be a good time to get some x-rays and get things checked out, but if I wanted to get in, I would have to go EARLY!!!! Well, how early is EARLY??? He reccommended 6am, but then reconsidered and said, "how about 5am?" I inwardly groaned, but thought, "Ok, 5am it is!!!" When you've got an unresolved ache in the jaw, you'll do anything!
I set my alarm for 4:30 am and got over to the campus about 5am. I was the 10th person in line. Two ladies had spent the night there camping on the lawn. (Now that is determination!) Another couple had come at midnight, and another at 2:30am. Wow!!! Not long after, more people started coming. By 6am, there were over 200 people waiting in line. I was sooooooo glad I'd come at 5!!
I was in the second group ushered into the medical dental center, and by 8am, was on the chair (already had x-rays done) and they began work on a cavity that was worse than expected. Incidently, it wasn't what I went in for, but I was very glad they discovered it before it got infected and I had to go get a root-canal, like I have on everything else that has gone bad with my teeth!! :-) But God knew what I needed done, and He saved me a bundle just on that! "Before they call, I will answer. While they are yet speaking, I will hear!" Isa 65:24
Who likes sitting in a dentist chair? Not I, for sure! They numbed my mouth and then put this big plastic mask across my mouth and embedded it around my gums and the designated teeth so that nothing would fall down my throat while they worked. I thought it was kinda a cool set up, until on a bathroom break I saw myself in the mirror and almost died of laughter. I looked like the little desert lizard that runs on two feet and flares out its mouth and head when it is scared! In other words, "The wide mouth monster!" It was funny!!! I had to leave the mirror quick or I knew I was gonna pop the thing out! Back in the chair, they drilled some more. At one point it started really hurting, so they had to give me more numbing shots for the the pain. Ouch! I hate the thought of needles in my mouth! :-/ But, I survived! (And my mother wasn't even there to hold my hand!)
Wow! What an adventure. My mouth is still numb and in denial...
What happened to the other tooth? Well, the x-rays showed that it does have an abcess, and although the problem is not resolved yet, now I know where to go for further assistance. So, we are on the road to recovery! One tooth at a time... :-)
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