Scare the assnan out of me!

[Yerdaddy]

<p>Assnan = Arabic for teeth. Har! Har! Whatever.</p><p>I have an appointment to have a wisdom tooth removed on March 13, here in Sana'a. Then, we'll start taking out the other&nbsp;four.&nbsp;Dental work in Yemen? What? Me worry? I'm fucking terrified! Oh, sure, I found a nice German-trained dentist reccommended by the German embassy. Sure, he's got all the modern equipment and personal vacuousness that I've come to expect from western dentists. Sure, I'll have unlimited, unfettered access to hardcore pharmaceuticals to keep me calm as Hindu cows afterward. I can spend as much time as I want in a self-induced valium/codeine/percocet/prozac/lithium/qat coma. My blood will have the chemical make-up of a Chernobyl Chicken McNugget. </p><p>But, still, I'm scared shitless.</p><p>So, what I want you sick bastards to do is scare the fuck out of me with your wisdom teeth/dentist horror stories.&nbsp;I want to be so scared I start looking to Jesus before I go in. (Safe bet I won't find him here.) I've heard plenty from friends here, but I know you guys can do worse. Make me know, it's not safe.</p>

[suggums]

<p>it went somethin like this</p><p><img border="0" src="http://www.markdery.com/archives/images/marathon.jpg" /> </p>

<span class=post_edited>This message was edited by suggums on 2-25-06 @ 1:05 PM</span>

[FUNKMAN]

<p>after i woke from having my wisdom teeth removed i found my pants unbuttoned.... i couldn't chew popcorn or bubble gum and my lip bajipping blood.</p><p>i had a pretty bad experience. i was around 15 and had 4 wisdom teeth removed. they were impacted so the gum had to be cut. i just remember my brother George had to walk me home and i was up all night spitting flem and blood, and i was in pain.&nbsp;Looking back i'd have to imagine i did not get any pain killers or just didn't take e'm...&nbsp;</p>

[Hottub]

<p>You're in <font size="4">FUCKING YEMEN!!!! </font><font size="1">That in itself should be enough to scare the fuck out of you!!</font></p><p><font size="1">Holy shit, I would not go for X-Rays and a cleaning, let alone surgery. That's right it is surgery!&nbsp; This &quot;Doctor&quot; just finished using the squat-hole and wiped his ass with his hand. Do you really want that in your mouth?</font></p><p><font size="1">Fly to Europe.</font></p><p><font size="1">Or let your teeth rot out, as is the local custom.</font></p>

<span class=post_edited>This message was edited by Hottub on 2-25-06 @ 1:20 PM</span>

[keithy_19]

<p>You'll get so fucked up you won't know what day it is!</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I guess that's really not a bad thing...</p>

[Bulldogcakes]

<p>Have you considered do it yourself dentistry?<br /></p><p>You know, tie one end of a string around the tooth, the other around a doorknob. Then slam the door real fast and spend the rest of the night screaming.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Always worked on Tom and Jerry. &nbsp;</p>

[bobrobot]

<p><strong><font color="#000099">3 months after I had my wisdom teeth out, I discovered I was pregnant...</font></strong></p><p><strong><font color="#000099">&amp; I'M A MAN, BABY!!!!</font></strong></p><p><img height="429" src="http://www.screenselect.co.uk/images/products/7/24867-large.jpg" width="300" border="0" /></p><p><strong><font color="#000099">Get really high &amp; check this out!!! (snakes optional)</font></strong></p><p><img height="316" src="http://www.bl.uk/collections/sound-archive/images/yemen2.jpg" width="316" border="0" /></p>

<span class=post_edited>This message was edited by bobogolem on 2-25-06 @ 7:55 PM</span>

[mendyweiss]

<img height="251" src="http://images.google.com/url?q=http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/images_movie/marathonman.JPG" width="320" border="0" />

[bobrobot]

&nbsp; <img height="262" src="http://www.onlinesports.com/images/toon-cavities.jpeg" width="374" border="0" />

[ADF]

I had all four of mine taken out at once.&nbsp; The doctor gave me a valium drip and put a washcloth over my eyes.&nbsp; Every time he pulled out a tooth I gave him a thumbs up.&nbsp; Took tylenol with codeine that night and went to work the next day with no pain and no need for medication.<br />

[AnaTickle]

<p><font size="3">I had left and right wisdom teeth taken out.&nbsp; I was in pain and they stitched up the area and I couldnt open my mouth.&nbsp; I had to drink soup and soft stuff.&nbsp; I hurt for a bit but then the pain left.</font></p><p><font size="3">I heard the horror stories for a root canal, but honestly it wasnt as bad as what Ive heard.&nbsp; He drilled and stuck these sticks in the tooth and cut a nerve or whatever it was.&nbsp; Actually the needles he used to stick me with novocane hurt more to me than the whole procedure.&nbsp; I survived.</font></p>

[bobrobot]

<img height="500" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1573625485.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" width="336" border="0" />

[DarkHippie]

<p>Oh, sure, I found a nice German-trained dentist reccommended by the German embassy. </p><p>Josef Mengele?</p>

[TheMojoPin]

I was knocked out and had all four pulled at once.&nbsp; Woke up minutes after it was done and was totally alert.&nbsp; Decent amount of bleeding, but I'm serious when I say I had no pain.&nbsp; None.&nbsp; Didn't take any pain pills, and I was eating solid food again 2 days later.&nbsp; I did get freaked out after the fact that they knocked me out, reading about people getting that during dental procedures can have unknown heart problems suddenly appear and they croak right there in surgery.&nbsp; Though in your case, as its been pointed out, the German reccomendation and training should be more terrifying than anything else.

[JamMaster]

<p>You could always do it like Tom Hanks.</p><p><img height="307" src="http://www.eccentrix.com/members/filmlit/castaway2.jpg" width="329" border="0" /></p>

[A.J.]

<p>I'm surprised they even have dentists there seeing as people in Arabia still use sticks as toothbrushes.</p>

[cupcakelove]

I had all four of mine taken out when I was 16.&nbsp; The bottom two
had to be cut out.&nbsp; The doctor knocked me out pretty good during
the procedure, so of course I didn't feel a thing.&nbsp; He gave me the
standard novacaine, a shot of some kind of sedative, and then topped it
off with the gas.&nbsp; He started working after the lighting track
above me began moving like a conveyer belt.&nbsp; Afterwards I had more
of a sore feeling than any kind of pain.&nbsp; The painkillers they
gave me took care of it.&nbsp; I did have to be careful when I ate
solid food, it hurt like hell when something would put pressure on the
wounds.&nbsp; And when I sneezed it felt like the stitches were being
ripped out.&nbsp; All that bad stuff went away after a week.&nbsp; I do
imagine you will be able to get really doped up if for some reason
you're in a lot of pain.&nbsp; Maybe you should bring something with
you just in case the doctor decides its not necessary.<br />

[landarch]

<p>I was told by my friends to not smoke reefer after the surgery</p><p>I didn't listen.&nbsp; Like a bass drum in my teeth with every heartbeat.</p>

[Ndugu]

<p>&quot;Is it safe?&quot;</p><p>I hope he gave you some clove oil.</p>

[torker]

<p>I had two wisdom teeth pulled this this afternoon with&nbsp;a local.&nbsp; Some blood, but it was real quick.&nbsp; I get two more pulled in 2-3 weeks.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://vicodin.happy-pages.net/vicodin.jpg" border="0" /></p>

<span class=post_edited>This message was edited by torker on 3-17-06 @ 6:44 PM</span>

[TheMojoPin]

<p>Have we heard from Yerdaddy since he went in to get his teeth yanked?</p><p>Uh-oh...</p>

[Alice S. Fuzzybutt]

<p>I had all four taken out at once. I was put under but had to have an edrenilin shot because my pulse was too low (I was an avid runner at the time. THAT SUCKED!). I remember passing out and waking up. I was given a script for vicodin and took one because I was mildly uncomfortable and wanted to sleep. No problems. One side swelled up because the toothe was impacted. </p><p>Hope Aaron is okay!!!</p>

[sr71blackbird]

<strong>TheMojoPin</strong> wrote:<br /><p>Have we heard from Yerdaddy since he went in to get his teeth yanked?</p><p>Uh-oh...</p><p>Seriously, has he posted since then...?</p>

[bobrobot]

<p><strong><font color="#000099">Perhaps&nbsp;an &quot;acciDENTAL&quot; decapitation !!!???</font></strong></p><p><img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/bobogolem/dentist.jpg" border="0" /></p>

[TheMojoPin]

Well, he did log in on the 18th...

[sr71blackbird]

I have an appointment to have a wisdom tooth removed on March 13, here in Sana'a. <strong>TheMojoPin</strong> wrote:<br />Well, he did log in on the 18th... <p><img height="15" src="http://www.ronfez.net/messageboard/images/topicicons/lightbulb.gif" width="15" border="0" /><img height="15" src="http://www.ronfez.net/messageboard/images/topicicons/lightbulb.gif" width="15" border="0" /><img height="15" src="http://www.ronfez.net/messageboard/images/topicicons/lightbulb.gif" width="15" border="0" /></p>

[Yerdaddy]

<p>Ooops. Didn't mean to worry you guys with stories of third world dental appointments and not bothering to update. The dentist has now cancelled my appointment three times. Don't know when it will be now, but the hot German chick who's been going to him has had several appointments since my original date. I think what's happening is this: Arabs, especially Yemenis and Saudis, who don't usually see a woman's face all day, get really fucking horned up to see a western woman, talk to a western woman, and especially put their hands in a western woman's mouth. So I suspect the dentist is getting more appointments from the European women around here and he's just giving them my appointments. </p><p>Anyhoo, I've just been doing the usual: working on articles, working on my Arabic, working mouthfuls of qat, working on the Eurochicks at the school, and... holy shit! A new Italian chick just walked into the internet cafe! Got work to do. Keep you posted.</p>

[sr71blackbird]

What does qat taste like, and what do you get out of it?&nbsp; A buzz? Is it like tobacco?

[TheMojoPin]

Think leaf-y cocaine.

[A.J.]

<strong>Yerdaddy</strong> wrote:<br /><p>A new Italian chick just walked into the internet cafe! Got work to do. Keep you posted.</p><p>The ONE place in the Arab world I could have praticed my Italian...DAMMIT!</p><p><em>Buona fortuna Tuopapa</em>!</p>

[SatCam]

A new Italian chick just walked into the internet cafe!

"Ow!"

[bobrobot]

<p>Think leaf-y cocaine. </p><p><strong><font color="#000099">Cocaine is made from the coca leaf!</font></strong> <strong><font color="#000099">Mmm... Junky salad...</font></strong></p><p><img height="492" src="http://cocaine.org/cocaleaf.jpg" width="300" border="0" /></p>

[Yerdaddy]

<strong>sr71blackbird</strong> wrote:<br />What does qat taste like, and what do you get out of it?&nbsp; A buzz? Is it like tobacco? <p>Think leafy TheraFlu. </p>

[JerseyRich]

<p>Hey! </p><p>Do you have Muhammed Bobblehead Dolls over there?&nbsp;</p>

[Yerdaddy]

<strong>A.J.</strong> wrote:<br /><strong>Yerdaddy</strong> wrote:<br /><p>A new Italian chick just walked into the internet cafe! Got work to do. Keep you posted.</p><p>The ONE place in the Arab world I could have praticed my Italian...DAMMIT!</p><p><em>Buona fortuna Tuopapa</em>!</p><p>I don't actually speak Italian, but I kiss French. So, Kol al-shay tamaam!</p>

[Yerdaddy]

<strong>JerseyRich</strong> wrote:<br /><p>Hey! </p><p>Do you have Muhammed Bobblehead Dolls over there?&nbsp;</p><p>No, but we have mosque alarm clocks that wake you up to the call to prayer. I imagine there's some kind of Saudi Arabian Idol to choose the <em>moezin</em> there and they probably don't sound too bad once you get used to the 430am calls. But here it must be pure nepotism becuase the fuckers they get to shreik the call prayer sound like a room full of flaming cats. Even the Yemenis complain about them! </p><p>Somewhere in the Egypt&nbsp;photos on my blog is a picture of a Kabbah snowglobe from Mecca that the cabdriver had mounted on his dashboard. They may not be too keen on cartoons, but the religio-kitch market is alive and well.</p>

[A.J.]

<p>No, but we have mosque alarm clocks that wake you up to the call to prayer. I imagine there's some kind of Saudi Arabian Idol to choose the <em>moezin</em> there and they probably don't sound too bad once you get used to the 430am calls. </p><p>The one near my place never understood the concept of turning his head <em>away</em> from the microphone when&nbsp;clearing his throat.&nbsp; The dude had some pipes though.</p>

[Yerdaddy]

<p> holy shit! A new Italian chick just walked into the internet cafe! Got work to do. Keep you posted.</p>

Ah, the beautiful Ilaria!

http://idontreadyourblog.blogs.friendster.com/photos/yemen/ilaria.jpg

Nice girl, but the biggest cock-tease I've ever met. Had me thinking I was just on the verge of getting some for 9 months. Had the Italian ambassador, a couple NGO heads and half the elite Yemeni men thinking the same thing - while all the time keeping her neurosurgeon fiance back home terrified about what she was up to when he should be thinking about that guy's skull he's buried up to his wrists in. Not real big on Italian girls now.

Anyhoo. Having pussed out of the Yemeni dentistry experience, and having let these choppers of mine fester for another two years, I finally got into enough pain the last few nights that a friend finally dragged me into a Cambodian dental clinic he'd heard was good. Cambodia's noticeably more developed than Yemen is. There are tons more westerners and western influence. By all rights I should be less afraid of Cambodian dentistry than Yemeni. But I'm not. I don't know exactly what it is; maybe the fact that Cambodians have no fear of pain - either suffering it or inflicting it. Worst drivers in the world - if you drive to work without seeing a bloody crash victim you start to worry that it just might be your turn. Also, Cambodia seems to feel even less of a need for a meritocracy than Yemen, if that's possible. I know I could buy myself a dental license and be sawing and chopping away at people's teeth the same day.

But the ex-pat community here is spoiled rotten by all the western UN/NGO salaries and corporate payrolls and they demand, and can afford, western standard care - for their mochaccinos, Lexus SUVs, their pets as well as their teeth. And I know I'm going to their dental clinic - albeit their cheap one - so I know it's the smart thing to do. But I'm still scared about a botch-job, and I'm worried about the bill. My insurance doesn't cover dental. But I'm in too much pain and I have to go through it today.

Long story short, the place looked like a Planet Hollywood from the outside. Place was outfitted as well as the Yemeni joint. The Dentist got right to work prodding away with the fork and told me she needed to pull a wisdom before she even took the x-rays. At that point I asked her about the price. $15 for the extraction and $2.50 for the x-ray. Now I'm worried about the quality. But she wasn't letting me back out for anything. She zipped me upstairs for the x-ray, then back downstairs and had half the tooth out before she bothered to look at the slide. Twenty minutes in the chair and I was stitched up and ready to go. No pain other than the Novocaine, but she did have me terrified the whole time after she started the procedure by poking me in the lip with the needle with an "Oh! Sorry!" like a hooker that finished you off too fast so she can get on to the next customer, (so I'm told). $17.50 later I was on the back of my buddy's motocross bike going to the pharmacy to pick up my codeine and get back in time to write this and make it to my weekly poker tournament. The pain's just starting now and I'm a little worried that if it's anything like it was last night - and I had two of the exact same 8mg codeine pills last night and they didn't do shit - I don't have the 24-hour all you can eat pharmacies like they do in Yemen. All I can do is ask around at the poker tournament and see what the ex-pats and backpackers are carrying around. Nothing I can do about it now though.

If I am still in a lot of pain later - what do you junkies suggest? Valium?

[A.J.]

If I am still in a lot of pain later - what do you junkies suggest? Valium?

In all seriousness, does taking painkillers impact your sobriety? I mean, can you take them as part of the program? Or, at least a milder variant?

[Melissa the Accountant]

I think that they don't outright break your sobriety streak, but in general it's discouraged. Based on what I have learned from the alcoholics I know, they are considered high risk for other forms of addiction as well. If one addictive behavior is given up, it can be tempting to replace it with another. So I think that it's an area where you're advised to tread cautiously.

I would say, share concerns with the surgeon or physician involved with the procedure. They should be able to help you choose a pain management regimen that is least likely to compromise your progress.

On a related note, they doped me heavily with valium after I had my wisdom teeth out. The nurse told my parents the drugs would knock me out and I would sleep all day. Instead, I was having too much fun being high. On the way home in the car I flipped the visor down and kept making these disgusting faces in it, baring my awful, bloody mouth in the mirror. I thought it was hilarious, but my mother hated this, so I stopped and began reading all the traffic signs aloud to her. When we got home I didn't want to go to bed, so I watched TV instead. I still get made fun of to this day for telling everybody about the documentary I was watching about Jack Russell terriers. I don't remember any of this, but apparently I claimed they could fly. It took hours for them to convince me to go to bed.

The drugs were the only good thing about that experience, and they didn't last nearly long enough.

[Yerdaddy]

In all seriousness, does taking painkillers impact your sobriety? I mean, can you take them as part of the program? Or, at least a milder variant?

Who do you think I am - Dalton?

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5237/roadhouse14gf8.jpg

I think that they don't outright break your sobriety streak, but in general it's discouraged. Based on what I have learned from the alcoholics I know, they are considered high risk for other forms of addiction as well. If one addictive behavior is given up, it can be tempting to replace it with another. So I think that it's an area where you're advised to tread cautiously.

I would say, share concerns with the surgeon or physician involved with the procedure. They should be able to help you choose a pain management regimen that is least likely to compromise your progress.

Yeah, that's about right, although asking a Cambodian dentist about a "pain management regimen" will get about the same reaction as singing "I'm Too Sexy" to a dog.

[A.J.]

Who do you think I am - Dalton?.

Please don't rip my throat out Sir.