Toothache

If you're cringing at the mere mention of this revolting word, I'm no exeption.

Two days ago as I was having my dose of healthy salad greens for dinner, I decided to toss in some carrot sticks to spring some color to it. To think of all the carotene that would benefit my eyes...

Alas, somehow when I bit into one of the carrot sticks, I think it cracked my tooth!!! I didn't think much about it then because it didn't exactly hurt that much. So I continued munching, with the teeth on the opposite side though..

That night, I literally sprang up from my beauty sleep. Now I don't usually have this problem because once I'm asleep, I'm gone. However the pang of pain was just to much to bear and I kind of ran around my little room, holding the side of my mouth that was hurting.

I rummaged through several closets in search of aspirin or any painkillers to no avail. By that time the pain was so profound I almost teared up...

Not knowing what to do, I just leaned against the wall and started sobbing. After some time, the pain subsided and I promptly hopped into bed so that I can go back to sleep before the pain striked again.

The method apparently worked well as I slept soundly till the next day. Last night was a whole different ballgame though...

I woke up four times throughout the night, just sitting there sobbing, waiting for the pain to go away..When this failed, I would crawl out and leaned against the wall again. Hey, if it worked once, the magic has gotta spark again right?

So I did this again and again until this morning. After poking every nook and cranny of my drawers, I finally found a couple of aspirins, some panadol and watermelon frost! (traditional Chinese medicine, green powder-like and is supposed to relief sore throat, toothaches and minor injury)

Well, I've been applying it all day. It seemed to work for awhile but it'll come back with a vengeance and that's when it really stings, or stinks. My mouth feels as if it's contorted inside out..And the nerves surrounding the tooth seems to be pulling from every corner..

My worst fear--besides cockroaches, insects, and all things alike, you get the idea--is going to the dentist office. And the reason is that every time I go to one, the dentist would have nothing but bad news to let on.

So I have bad teeth. Why do I have to suffer? It's not like I had a choice to have good teeth which don't need too much pampering. I brush my teeth twice a day religiously. Add on rinsing and gurgling with Listerine after that. Then occassionally when I'm at it, I'll floss. I have friends who brush once and still have flawless teeth. What's wrong with this picture?!

That point aside, there's like no way I can afford to see a dentist here. Health care is not exactly the cheapest thing of all in the U.S. The last time I checked it cost around $90 just to get an initial diagnosis. Then it's a whopping $150 for a tooth filling..wth..I certainly don't have that kind of money to spare, especially right now..

Guess I'll have to wait till my next trip home..Oh goodness, there it goes pulling at my nerves again. I think I'll have to pop an aspirin and hope for the stars.