the never-ending saga of my mouth
Don’t get too excited — it’s not what you think. What it is, is my ongoing relationship with all sorts of teeth, gum and jawbone docs. Today, I spent the first of many $1200 installments on gum surgery. First step was cutting the little piece of flesh that connects my lower lip to my lower gums. Apparently, it’s been pulling my gums away from my teeth for 45+ years. Apparently, this is unacceptable and has been the cause of my extremely, super-severe tooth sensitivity which prevents me from eating anything cold, cool or even room temp. The up side? After the snipping and the sewing (12 stitches) my lower lip was slightly swollen, in the most wonderful, puffy and insouciant way. Not quite Angelina Jolie-esque, but most certainly not my usual waspy no lip way. The down side? Once again, I ignored the “surgery” portion of this procedure and didn’t realize how much it would hurt until I started walking back to work and realized that the pain was radiating throughout my body with every footfall. Lucky for me, I had scheduled a full day of meetings. My good judgment shines through again! And what is that little piece of flesh that I just had snipped called?
snoeberry 
Lower labial frenulum.
http://www.google.com/images?q=frenectomy&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&oe=utf8&rlz=1I7GGLL_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=6TeCTaiQAemI0QHFw9nbCA&ved=0CDkQsAQ&biw=1659&bih=844
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March 17, 2011 at 12:38 pm
Thank you!
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March 17, 2011 at 10:37 pm
Sure. No big thing.
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April 21, 2011 at 5:13 pm
Couldn’t resist: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/05/foreign-accent-syndrome_n_858101.html
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May 5, 2011 at 4:39 pm
This is so fabulous – I start the next phase of gum surgery next week – if I could emerge without my horrific Long Island accent, it would all be worth it!
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May 5, 2011 at 10:06 pm
Pshaw. Screw up your pluck and pump up your insouciance. I’m sure you’ll cycle through your surgery.
Re the “horrific” accent, the firebombing of Dresden was horrific. Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Auschwitz were all horrific. Tuition and fees for incoming NYU freshmen -— truly horrific. But I shouldn’t judge since we don’t get too many Long Island accents out here on Vanuatu. Just liberation, relief and a sense of wellness and oneness with the world. You should try it.
Good luck with the surgery. Looking forward to the blog post.
AQ
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May 10, 2011 at 3:31 pm