It started with a black dot. It looked like a piece of a peppercorn stuck in between two of my teeth next to my gums on the top left side of my mouth. In between my canine and incisor. This was a notorious plaque-ridden spot that was the bane of my existence. I took a deep sigh and used my thumbnail to try to pick it out of my teeth. Lucy my best friend exclaimed.
“Don’t worry it’s not even noticeable!! Don’t let this ruin our night!”
I turned my attention away from the large mirror in the bar’s bathroom, adjusting my top and following Lucy to the dance floor. I let the music take me the bass vibrating my bones. I couldn’t stop my tongue from repeatedly moving over the front of the spot and trying to suck the kernel out of my teeth. Before I knew it, it was the last call for drinks. With that call, Lucy and I took our leave getting an uber to get back to the apartment.
I got a number while we were out and a free drink so they must not have noticed. I absent-mindedly stuck my thumbnail into the crack in my teeth trying to once again leverage the kernel out. Lucy saw and grabbed my arm to remind me not to pick at it. I had no real hope without a mirror anyways. It was okay when I was moving but sitting in the back of the Uber I felt restless… Anxious.
We finally got back to our apartment. We were lucky to be able to have a two-bedroom. It’s hard to get a good apartment in Seattle. We had two small rooms a tiny cooking area that barely counts as a kitchen and enough room for a love seat and tv in front of a window in the living area. The bedrooms could fit a queen bed and an end table. I had under-bed storage and a large mirror hung on my wall with wall organizers that organized my makeup. The entire apartment was about 500 square feet and we had a communal bathroom for our entire floor. About 20 people. At least there were multiple stalls.
I flung my purse on my bed and allowed myself to flop face down on the duvet. One thing that’s nice about not having a lot of room is everything allowed to be in my space was immaculately kept and of high quality. I’m what you would call a picky person. Without my feet supporting my weight they ached. The high heels I had been wearing finally took their toll and I took them off with an audible gasp of relief. I hung up my purse on my door hook and placed my heels in under-bed storage, swinging my legs to the side of my bed with my mirror creating a makeshift makeup area.
In one of my wall organizers, I had dental picks and my other dental care items. Our kitchen area did have a running half sink so thankfully I could do most of my routine in my apartment. With a far superior tool in my hand and I got to work digging the black spot out of my teeth. I don’t even remember eating anything that could have left a kernel in my teeth.
I try to keep my figure with lots of salads and whole fruits and vegetables. With my pickiness, I like to keep to the same three meals in a day. A banana for breakfast with a protein shake. A salad with one cup of quinoa for lunch and another salad with a small protein or with dressing for dinner. My mind continued to wander as I contemplated the next day. And a prick of pain brought me back to the present. With my obsessive picking, I irritated my gums and a trickle of blood poured over the black spot that was still firmly lodged in my teeth.
I groaned in frustration and grabbed my shower caddy to shower off the day. In the bathroom, I again looked in the mirror and it seemed the black spot got even bigger. It now was about the size of half of my tooth still in between my two teeth. My jaw was throbbing the discomfort of something so large stuck in between my teeth and the irritation of the bleeding gums. It no longer looked like a kernel it now looked more like a cavity from a distance.
I care a lot about my appearance and this sight unsettled me. I quickly showered and finished my routine. Going back to my apartment I saw that Lucy was on the loveseat already in her pajamas. She apparently didn’t shower. Lucy is not as particular as I am.
“Lucy, Lucy… Lucy!!” I demanded her attention.
“Look at my teeth!” I bared my teeth to give her the best view of the issue at hand.
“EEEEEW your bleeding! You need to stop picking at your teeth! I know you have a thing about being clean but this is a lot.”
“No, I was just trying to get that THING out from between my teeth. Remember? The kernel from at the bar bathroom?”
“What are you talking about? Your teeth look perfect as always except for your bleeding gums.”
“You’re kidding me, you really don’t see it?”
“Well per your words you are a ‘picky’ person” She used quotations with her fingers as she said that. “Maybe you just need to relax. Don’t worry it’s just in your mind.”
With a sigh, I got up with my caddy and went to my room. As I passed Lucy’s room I saw a bit of the destruction inside. I closed it as Lucy pretended to ignore me. I allow her to have her space to be as she calls it ‘creative’ as long as it doesn’t leak into the rest of our apartment. I put away my cady in its spot under my bed next to my nightstand. Then I grabbed my sleep mask and sleep scrunchy from my end table. I braided my long red hair and secured my face mask and went to sleep.
I tossed and turned all night. I have problems when my schedule is disrupted and my teeth felt foreign in my mouth. The item that was logged in my teeth and jaw was awkwardly pushing the teeth apart. My teeth were repositioning and ached, bringing back memories of having braces when I was a child. I finally was able to ignore it long enough to drift into an uneasy sleep. I generally don’t remember my dreams. But this one was disturbing…
I was working at my job as a yoga instructor and I was going through my vinyasa and everyone was warmed up. I was teaching my most advanced class so I started moving to the harder poses and adding them in. Downward dog, Plank, Upward facing dog, and into bakasana or crane pose. This pose requires nesting your knees into your elbows and positioning your body weight forward. This position requires strength and balance.
My balanced failed and I fell forward into my face. There was a loud thud and a sickening clicking noise as multiple teeth fell out of their sockets. At that point, I woke in a sweat gasping and reaching for my mouth with both of my hands grasping my teeth to feel them securely in my mouth. Except two…… I sat up still holding the teeth in question. I gazed into the mirror and saw that the black thing had completely engulfed the two teeth that it was previously in between and there was something that looked like a piece of peppercorn in my bottom teeth directly below the two previous teeth. The now rotten-looking brown teeth were barely holding onto my gums.
I covered my mouth with my hand and got out my phone, making an online emergency appointment with my favorite dentist. I glanced at the time 4:41 AM. Well, I am up now. I put on my clothes for the day opting for comfy lounge ware due to the pounding pain in my face. I had my advanced class at 6 pm tonight and normally I would run errands and go to the gym until class started. I made my morning protein shake and sat on the loveseat.
I have a lot of time to kill before my dentist appointment and I don’t know what to do with myself. I looked through google on different dental problems but this came out of nowhere. I am not sure what to do has anyone been through something like this before?