Real Date of Post: Tuesday, October 29, 2002
Ouch, oh my god I need dental surgery.

I am afraid that I need some sort of urgent dental care. It's not my actual teeth but my jaw that is killing me. The left side. My left, not the side of me that is left if you are looking at me from the front.

Anyway, it is just fine for regular talking and the eating of mushy things, but as soon as I have to apply any pressure with my jaw, boy does it start hurting. Also, I hear it crack loudly on occasion.

This has been going on for a week or so and is preceeded and concurrent with some eerily coincidental dental news in my life. 1. About two weeks ago I took a good look at my teeth and observed my jaw alignment; this examination was brought about by the fact that for the past several months whenever I bite into a sandwich I am unable to actually sever it; in otherwords, my alignment is bad like a cheap pair of scissors--my top and bottom teeth don't actually touch much. 2. My mom, this week, has been on a liquid diet. She has very bad jaw alignment problems and has worn a prosthetic device (kind of like an orthopedic shoe, but for her mouth) at night for 15 years or so in order to try to keep her jaw functional. It seems that she has recently had some sort of tectonic plate of her head shift and her alignment has gone off. She is completely unable to apply pressure without blinding pain...I can still bear my pain.

So basically, I think I am in for it. I don't have a dentist here in this city...but I'm not afraid of dentists. Five years of sharp, oldfashioned metal braces make you a veteran to dental pain. I can handle the appointment, it's getting the appointment that may be tricky. Sometimes dentists have long waiting periods. I'll keep you posted.