NO vocaine

Had a routine filling today, after cracking my very back molar ... and experienced a most un-routine aftermath. Holy smokes.

With the location of the damage, the novocaine shot was done at the back of my upper jaw. The back of my tongue went numb - but the rest did not - a terribly strange sensation alone. But the worst of it was that my soft palate was also numbed.

It felt like it collapsed, just falling onto the back of my tongue.

This caused a lot of trouble breathing. But I am well used to having a lot of trouble breathing; annoying, to be sure, but that wasn't what got my attention.

The problem lay in the fact that with my soft palate going saggy, my uvula went on HIGH gag alert ... and my gag reflex kept getting worse after the (relatively brief) procedure, as the drug seemed to strengthen slowly, or at least after I sat up and the effect became quite distinct. I had to hold back a retch just walking out of the building, and several times on the way home.

Yeesh.


Note to self: don't chip another back molar.