Medical Practice
October 29, 2019
The future of my teeth isโฆ TBD. Thatโs not bad news ๐๐ฝ out of my post-op appointment ๐ฅ, one week after oral surgery. ๐ Me and my new mouth will continue getting to know each other ๐ค, waiting for the blessed day ๐๐พ when solid food ๐ฎ is more common than medicine ๐, when spicy cocktails ๐ธ replace lukewarm teas ๐ต, and when I can actually physically form a smile ๐, let alone be confident enough to do so. ๐คท๐ปโโ๏ธ Because I am experiencing small victories that may just be worthy of a smileโฆ like perhaps having made the right choice in doctors, procedures and oral care despite the horrific stress, infuriating setbacks and ongoing uncertainty ๐ค๐ผ?
Maybe another tooth has to go. Maybe more root canals are necessary. Maybe one needs to be redone. Maybe nerve damage is causing pain. Maybe the newfound fracture will worsen. But maybe not, which is welcome tepid news. Much is still needed in the realm of alignment, aesthetics and color, but the trauma work and structural repairs in and around my mouth are mostly complete. Only time will tell whether it holds a week, two months, or a couple decades, if I am lucky. As an early dentist told me, โthis accident will plague you forever,โ but with less vengeance as time passes.
They call it medical practice โ and my doctors are indeed practicing on me. I resist the urge to fault or lay blame, because no one can possibly know the full ramifications of an accident, my injuries, persistent trauma. And I do trust the talented doctor, seasonal professional and kind soul leading my oral care. What I once viewed as a science with clearcut answers, decisive fixes and set solutions to problems, I now view as an ambiguous, uncertain process of tests and trials. That's a hard reality to bite into when I personally wake, eat, talk, drink, sleep, live with the pain and repercussions of unresolved oral issues day in and day out. It frustratingly feels like everything is TBD these days. But so it is, a waiting game that requires only one thing: time.