have you ever?

Ever had significant tooth pain?

Mine started three days ago, seemingly out of nowhere. That evening I noticed the left side of my face beginning to experience some surging pain - - it ebbed and flowed, wasn't super horrible, but enough to warrant some acetaminophen before bed.

I woke up at 3:30 that morning in excruciating pain. But it wasn't localized, and was difficult to tell what the source was. I just knew the whole left side of my face hurt. I stumbled down the hall, dug out the ibuprofen and immediately popped three. Strangely, in about five minutes, the pain notably subsided...but that only lasted another five minutes. For the next hour and a half I laid in bed awake contemplating whether it would be wise to grab a wrench and attempt to yank out the tooth I believed was the culprit. Eventually the pain subsided enough to fall asleep.

Over the past couple of days the pain has localized, and sure enough, the suspect tooth seems to be the problem. I'm now up to 4 Advil every 3-5 hours. Gotta stay ahead of the pain.

I've not established a dentist since moving here - - but you can bet I'm all over it now! The mom of one of my small group girls is a dentist. I put a call in to her yesterday...and again today...but as luck would have it, she's out of town.

Then came the double recommendation: two separate friends from two separate circles recommended the same dentist. I gave his office a call this afternoon....drat: voicemail.

But lo and behold, my phone rang this evening at 9:21. Bless their hearts, this husband/wife dental team checked their office messages and called me back - TONIGHT! God bless 'em, God bless 'em, God bless 'em! Not only did I get a personal call tonight, but the question on the table is "How does 9:15 tomorrow morning work for you?"

9:15 tomorrow morning? That's only 3 doses of Advil away! I CAN DO THIS!

And just in time.... I was getting ready for old school dentistry: whiskey and a wrench.