In the year 19, between my upper left wisdom tooth and molar, the wisdom tooth fell out (at that time I thought it was tartar). It was easy for food to get stuck and touch the flesh when eating. At that time, I didn't know it was a wisdom tooth, so I planned to get a teeth cleaning first and then get it filled.
Teeth cleaning was really uncomfortable. Although there was a suction tube, I couldn't help but swallow and felt like I couldn't breathe. The gums were also very sore. After a long period of time, it was finally finished. Then the dentist told me that my teeth looked healthy on the surface, but upon closer inspection, there were problems. The more serious ones were the two molars, the lower left and lower right (I think so, I can't remember clearly). These two needed to be filled.
So they started grinding, removing the decayed parts. After grinding, the dentist took a look and said that it might be close to the nerve or it might not be. It was a blurry boundary. If it reached the nerve, it would require root canal treatment, which would be painful, expensive, and troublesome. If it didn't reach the nerve, a normal filling would suffice. Since she couldn't be sure, she called another male dentist to take a look. The male dentist said it probably didn't reach the nerve, so he filled it temporarily and asked me to observe for a week. If the tooth hurt while eating during that week, I would need root canal treatment. If it didn't hurt, I could come back for a proper filling.
Then, regarding the purpose of my teeth cleaning, I mentioned the gap between the wisdom tooth and molar that I mentioned earlier. The doctor told me that it didn't need to be filled, but the wisdom tooth needed to be extracted. Moreover, it couldn't be extracted right after teeth cleaning!
After a week, if my tooth didn't hurt, I would go back to get it filled. They first ground off the previous filling, and then filled it again. The filling material seemed to be imported. I originally wanted to use domestically produced material, but because the temporary filling used imported material, it was better to use the same one, so I used the imported material.
The total cost was less than 500, with the teeth cleaning costing 200 and I couldn't remember the cost of the filling. The sound of the grinding machine was terrifying, like the sound of construction. Because I suffered too much during the teeth cleaning and filling process, I didn't want to get my tooth extracted.
Two years later, in April 2021, the upper left wisdom tooth remained the same, but the upper right wisdom tooth surprised me by starting to hurt. It had hurt before, but it usually got better after a few days. However, this time it hurt for a whole month, and it even made my temples ache. So, I finally made up my mind to get it extracted. On May 29th, I went to a dental clinic near my residential area to get it extracted.
It was a Saturday and I had the day off, so I went early. When I arrived, the dentist hadn't come yet. After taking my temperature and recording it, they let me in to wait. I thought since I was already here, I might as well get the lower right wisdom tooth extracted too, since they were both on the right side. However, little did I know that this was the beginning of a nightmare.
To extract the tooth, they first took X-rays. One for the upper tooth and two for the lower tooth. The lower tooth was impacted and growing at an angle. Then they started quoting the prices: X-ray fees, anesthesia fees, one-time instrument fees, fees for the upper tooth, fees for the lower tooth. It was around 500 in total. I agreed, and then they told me to start with the lower tooth. They administered anesthesia and said they needed to cut off a part before extracting it. As soon as they started cutting, I felt pain. They added more anesthesia and told me to endure the slight pain. They continued cutting, but it was still very painful, so I asked them to stop. The dentist then used a tool to find the exact spot that was causing pain and added more anesthesia. After that, they were able to cut it out.
During the process, I rinsed my mouth multiple times. After the extraction, they took another X-ray to check. Then they started using tools on me. I didn't really understand what those tools were, but it felt like they were prying my tooth. The dentist would switch between my right and left side. It took quite a long time (around 20 or 30 minutes), but they finally extracted it. They wiped it with a hemostatic cotton and then gave me another one to bite on for a while.
After a while, they started working on my upper tooth. They administered anesthesia again, and once it took effect, they used the same tool to extract it. Before I could react, they started putting a hemostatic cotton in my mouth and told me to bite down. Then they let me sit up.
I said at that time, "Is that it? Extracting the upper tooth was too fast!"
The dentist said it was easier to extract the upper tooth. Then they let me see the two extracted teeth. They were quite bloody. I forgot to take a picture. After that, I went to the front desk to pay. It was a total of 565 yuan. They gave me a list of precautions and verbally went through them with me. Then I went home.
After the extraction, I had some congee for lunch. I didn't put enough water, so it solidified after cooling down, but I managed to eat it. I had a normal dinner in the evening, using the left side to chew. The next day, I felt a bit more pain than the first day. It was probably because the anesthesia had completely worn off. In the following two to three days, there were often traces of blood in my mouth. Now it's the sixth day, and the lower part still hurts a bit, but everything else feels normal.
I've read a lot of scientific explanations, saying that blood clots fill the hole after tooth extraction, then tissue forms, and finally, bone grows to restore the normal gum. This process takes about three months. It's really long, but because young people recover quickly, it's recommended to extract wisdom teeth as early as possible.