A severe toothache will put even the strongest down for the count. It can be a useful tool for a HoG to throw at Joe Muchkin at the most in opprotune time.
And the after-affects of a tooth extraction, be it wisdom or other, is a 'dry-socket'. That makes matters even worse. Also the possibility of infections in the open wound in the mouth, which is the dirtiest place in the body according to some doctor's I've talked with.
Any ways. Good luck on your extraction. I got mine out before deployment. It was standard at the time. Though I did have a root canal go sour on me in ROK. It had a major abscess that caused the lower side of the jaw to sag and enven breathing seemed to hurt. I got to ride shot gun on a couier duece and a half for nearly 100 miles on ROUGH rock roads (they gravel a road there by breaking boulders into pea gravel with sledge hammers btw). Felt EVERY jolt. Got to the dental clinic at a few minutes before noon on a Friday. The enlisted tech tells me they were closed for the weekend and I had to wait until Monday. NOT what I wanted to hear. Then the dentist, a drafee Captain came out, took one look at me and said follow me. He extracted the tooth in THREE peices, and though I was 'deadened' I could feel when he pulled the last peice out with the abcess on it (about 1/2" or more). He cussed the AF Colonel for the shoddy work doing the root-canal a year before, "That's why he's an Air Force colonel, because he couldn't make it as a dentist in the world."
So yes, dental problems are over looked, along with the time to recover from other wounds as well. But that's another story.
Again, hope all goes well.
Grae
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