The past few days have been riddled with pain for me. In the middle of last week, sometime around Wednesday or thereabout, I woke up and found out that my teeth was slightly aching. At first, it was something minor, one that I thought was going to leave me as the day progressed. However, I was wrong, it didn’t leave at all, instead it persisted stubbornly.
And by the next day, I realized that the pain had increased by a great deal. This didn’t make any sense to me. I’ve always taken care of my teeth, and while I enjoy sweet things, I’m not one to let them rot in my mouth. Regular brushing of teeth is like a lifestyle for me. Well, despite the lifestyle, the teeth still hurt like hell.
When the pain moved on to the third day without any sign of abating, I saw then that it was no major issue. I tried to investigate it myself (the classic staring into the mirror with my mouth wide open or using my tongue to scour my teeth and sort of feel my way through). You might wanna know why I didn’t try this since, well, while the pain was getting worse every day, it wasn’t exactly unbearable. It was still soft enough that I was certain that with time, I would be free of it.
However, when I found out that I could no longer open my mouth wide or eat food comfortably, that’s when I realized that this wasn’t a usual toothache. As if it were all of a sudden, the pain increased. When I open my mouth to eat, a sharp pain would fire down my throat. When I swallow, I would have to wince in pain. Brushing my teeth is now war because it’s so damn painful.
It was during this period that I noticed that the pain was centered at the back of my mouth, and there was seemingly nothing wrong with me. I didn’t have bad teeth or anything. Apparently, I am growing my molar (wisdom teeth, I think). This is the set of teeth that comes during full-blown adulthood. I heard that women get it earlier, some getting their wisdom teeth when they’re 23, 24, or even 25. However, for men, we get it much later. I know someone who got his shortly after he clocked thirty.
However, most of the time, it all comes in during your mid to late twenties. And it’s always painful as hell. I remember when all my elder siblings had them and how they basically cried during the process. I can’t believe that’s what is waiting for me in the near future. For some, it might come with serious swelling of the jaw and intense pain, while for others, nothing much changes. But the pain is constant. You must experience it. I guess it’s my turn.
So far, it’s been manageable for me. I’m still able to move around, and I’m able to talk freely, and I can work. However, when it comes to matters where I have to eat, that’s when I face issues. Everything I do then seems to be very painful. The pain is constant, and even when I try to sleep it off, nothing works. Because when I sleep on that side, fireworks go off in my mouth and in my head.
I just hope this is how bad the pain will be for me, and this will be the height of it. Because if it gets any worse, there will be problem ooo!!! But all in all, this is part of life and part of growth. Just like my post talked about yesterday. Growth is important and it doesn’t come without it’s own share of pain.
I’m sure that in the end, I’ll be fine.
