So firstly, i've been pronouncing Suchie's name as Suzie in my head this whole time and now i feel like a fool, but boy do i have a review for you...
My amazing Dentists Dr. Cournot and Dr. Lee (who are most excellent dentists, even if i think they're constantly trying to up-sell me on new services.) referred me to Dr. Chawla after telling me for about 2 years that i need to get my wisdom teeth out.
I'd been hearing it for a while from Dentists back home in Australia, and also from my Dentists since i moved to the states. But hey, they really weren't hurting, so what harm could they really be doing? So i finally go and see Dr. Chawla and she informs me that yes indeed, i need to get them out, sure, it was my call, but seriously people, listen to your doctors, she threw in that i probably should have come to see her 20 years ago, which to be honest was probably the first time that someone told me that. So Dr. Chawla passed her first test.
She referred me for some 3D scans. My teeth were nasty. And the 3rd wisdom tooth may have been too close to the nerve. If i didn't want to end up with a paralyzed lower jaw then i would be wise to go get a 3D scan of my mouth.
After getting my 3D scans back Dr Chawla confirmed that yes, the third impacted tooth was too close to a nerve and that most likely, it wouldn't hurt me in the future anyway so it should stay. But she had plans for the rest of those suckers. While she was looking into my mouth i think i actually heard her cursing at them, Dr. Chawla really hates wisdom teeth.
So we had a plan, and then we had a date. I went in for an IV sedation and a date with the forceps. The anesthetic took hold and i don't really feel a thing, except i'm pretty sure i had a starring contest with a leprechaun and he told me where the pot of gold was, alas, when i awoke, i couldn't really remember the location. Just my luck. It took about 2 hours and everything went really smoothly, from what i remember. I got some antibiotics, some pain drugs and some sort of oral steroid to heal with, the Dr. whacked some ice on my face and packed my mouth with gauze and I was on my way. Make sure you get someone to come get you after a procedure like this, i made that mistake, got on the wrong train and ended up in poughkeepsie. kidding!
I iced when i got home and followed my instructions closely. The Dr. actually called me that night to make sure that i was feeling ok. I thought she may have been fishing for a date, but that didn't really come up, i suppose she really was just concerned about my well-being. sigh.
No joke, i had no swelling, no pain (didn't need to take any pain drugs), the bleeding stopped before i went to bed, and while my mouth felt really tender for a few days i re-couped very quickly with no complications. I had a business trip i needed to go on 3 days later and Dr. Chawla told me in no uncertain terms not to fly. I said ok... but i lied. I flew across the country 4 days after my surgery and still felt no pain. I tried my best to only eat smoothies and yoghurt for about 3-4 days, but then slowly started incorporating solids about a week later.
Overall i can't recommend Dr. Chawla more highly. I've only known her for this procedure, but the experience makes me wish i could grow some more wisdom teeth so i could go and do it all again. If you need your teeth messed with, in a seriously good way, go see Dr. Suchie Chawla, and try to pronounce her name correctly. A bit of respect, please.
All my love
Sammi read more