And, it's out!

Behold, my tooth (inside).

Getting my tooth extracted wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated. I had old memories of that Novocaine shot feeling like it was drilling through either my jaw bone or the roof of my mouth (depending on the particular instance). Those memories were intensified when my dentist held up the gigantic metal syringe today. But luckily, I only felt a pinch! Wow. The dentist did say he puts a pinch both in front of and behind the tooth, and then lets the Novocaine set in before finishing the injection. I'm not sure if other dentists do things differently. I just know that in my past experiences, I've always had laughing gas and the numbing gel, and still felt like the needle bore into my bone.

I'm so glad to have had the extraction done without laughing gas this time. Granted, the wriggling of the tooth was a bit stressful to witness while wide awake. But other than that, everything went smoothly.

The next step is to head back to my orthodontist in a month to get the full wire on my lower teeth put in. I'm guessing it'll take a few months to fully close the gap.

Fun fact: the oral surgeon I went to see today was actually the one who removed a cyst from my mouth back in 1998.