[Wisdom Teeth] I had them pulled before they started hurting

Hello, this is yume.
Yesterday, I had my lower-left wisdom tooth extracted.
It is still a little swollen even now.

The first time I had a wisdom tooth pulled was five years ago.
My lower-right wisdom tooth was pushing against the tooth in front of it, causing sudden pain, so I made an emergency appointment to have it removed.
At that time, they said, 'The upper-right wisdom tooth will probably come out too, so let's pull them together!' and I ended up having both the upper and lower right ones extracted at once.
I had never even had a cavity before, so it was my first time getting anesthesia, and I almost cried just from the pain of the injection (lol).
After the procedure, once the anesthesia wore off, there was naturally pain and swelling. I felt pretty gross for a whole week.

After that, I was told that my lower-left wisdom tooth was also starting to come in and that I should have it pulled, but every time I remembered that unpleasant experience, I would think, 'I don't want to do that again...' and kept putting it off.

I moved last year and started going to a different dentist for regular checkups.
My best friend of about 20 years is a dentist,and since they happened to be working in the area where I started living after getting married, they are currently the one looking after my teeth.
It's a bit embarrassing to have a best friend look inside my mouth.
My friend also told me that I really should have the lower-left one pulled eventually. Once my best friend said it, I realized I had to do it. It took me a year to mentally prepare, but I finally got it done.
Of course, I had my best friend pull it.
It was growing in at quite an unusual angle, and the root was curved in a hook shape, so it was apparently very difficult to extract, taking about an hour.
My best friend is always positive, thoughtful, and truly fun to be around.
I was reminded of how much I respect them, thinking, 'They can do something this amazing? Is this what my best friend's job is like?'
Thank you, my best friend!!

My gums were bleeding yesterday and it felt gross, but it stopped today.
I never felt any pain until I had it pulled, and the surrounding teeth never got cavities, but it's better to have it removed before something happens, right?

Come to think of it, on my way home, I saw an elderly man who was missing almost all his teeth.
I wondered, 'Why are his teeth missing... naturally? Did he have them pulled while going through the same painful experience as me?' and,if it's the latter, that man is a hero.

Next week is the suture removal and follow-up. Apparently, they had to put in four stitches. I'm too scared to look inside my mouth...
It hurt, or rather, it still hurts a little and I can't eat well, but I did my best.

I'm going to open my mouth wide and eat lots of delicious food over the New Year holidays.

2024.12.8 yume