When you get ready to leave the country for a year, you are given a long list of things to do and a long list of things to pack.
Shots, malaria meds, passport photos, medicine, clothes.
The list goes on and on.
I wish someone had told me one more important piece of wisdom about things to do before leaving the states…
2 days after arriving in Thailand with no warning, my bottom left wisdom tooth had poked through my gum. The pain was unpleasant and a sense of horror evaded me as I realized I was in Thailand, I would not be going home for a year, and my wisdom teeth were growing rapidly.
With some advice from squad leaders, I decided to find a dentist in Thailand because who knew when we’d be in a clean and safe country again. The news was not good; they needed to come out soon if I didn’t want to risk messing up the thousands of dollars in orthodontic work that my parents had so graciously paid for in high school.
So what does one do with that kind of news?
You do the only logical thing and get all 4 wisdom teeth pulled in Thailand, of course.
The dentist had told me the day before that in Thailand, they do not put patients to sleep in order to take out wisdom teeth and that was purely an American comfort so it’d be local anesthetic and laughing gas for me. Walking into the clinic, I thought I was going to die right there in the chair at the dentist office (Luckily in Thailand they do allow for a friendly handholding aid and music to be listened to instead of the sound of drills).
It was time to begin, the laughing gas mask was put on and what felt like 20 anesthetic shots were given. It was time to begin… As he began to cut and then pull, I realized there wasn’t enough anesthetic.
“It hurts.” I yelled.
“Long root” he said.
Luckily, the pain was over quickly. He realized after that I needed more anesthetic for my other teeth so the rest were pain free. It was over before I knew it.
As we walked home from the dental clinic, I was in a daze. Ice packs held on my cheeks, locals staring at me funny as we trudged down the street. I was a mess. I took my pain pills, went to bed, and slept until morning. However, the next morning, I woke up looking like this…
An adorable little chipmunk.
I got lucky this month, we were living above a coffee shop with all the smoothies and milkshakes my heart desired but you might not always be so lucky…
So do the wise thing and get your wisdom teeth checked before you leave for your 11-month journey!
