Man Forced To Pull His Own Tooth Out Due to Infection, Can't Get Appointment During Lockdown
A DAD pulled out his own tooth with a pair of pliers after being unable to get an emergency dentist appointment amid the coronavirus lockdown.
Billy Taylor, 33, of Axminster, Devon, spent an hour working the infected gnasher out with the help of his 11-year-old son after the pain it was causing became "excruciating".
Yeah. Thanks but no thanks. I think I'd literally let that infection take over my entire body before I considered ripping my tooth out of my face.
I hated ripping out the baby teeth that were stuck in my face when I was little. I'd run and hide from my responsibility of ripping teeth out of my face to the point my parents had to trick me on several occasions*. What makes you think I want to rip out my adult teeth that are very much rooted in my gums and are very difficult/painful to remove? I don't. Hence why I would die of a routine tooth infection. This hardo guy clearly didn't want to go down that road but hey, more power to him.
*Had I not been under the age of 10 I surely would've outsmarted them and my baby teeth would probably be in my mouth to this day.*
"I had toothache running up to the Bank Holiday weekend. It was getting worse and worse. The pain was excruciating.
"Then, on the Tuesday after, my face was swelling and I had a migraine on that side. I think it was an abcess.
"It got really bad that night and the swelling was getting worse. I was pretty wound up.
"I thought: 'Why don't I just do it myself?'."
This is where it gets tricky, obviously. No one wants to have to pull their own tooth out. But when almost every place of business is closed for coronavirus, you gotta do what you gotta do. It sucks for this guy that the one time he actually needed to get to the dentist's office, they're all closed due to unforeseen circumstances. Just the absolute WORST timing possible.
He was pretty much left with no other option. It was remove the tooth himself or lose half his face to an infection. His choice.
An aircraft fitter by trade, Billy had a selection of tools he thought capable of doing the job, settling on a pair of wire-twisting pliers.
He also did some research on YouTube and searched online for any possible complications before deciding to go ahead.
He then drank a couple of shots of whisky as a sedative and asked his son Leo to keep watch in case he passed out.
…
"Me and my lad ripped it out - it took about an hour. The process was bloody painful.
Just like the old days. A little bit of whiskey and some pliers. It almost makes you wonder why we ever developed advanced technology. Today's society has been coddled by advanced tools and drugs used to make the dentist's office as quick and painless as ever. I remember a time where it was just whiskey and a pair of pliers. Simpler times.
The part here that kills me is that his son was just watching him wrestle his tooth out. If my dad asked me to come watch him perform a bloody tooth removal for AN HOUR, I'd probably tell him to go kick rocks. Not that I dislike my father but I could think of many ways to better spend my time than watching a scene out of Castaway.
This guy just has to hope he has some better luck next time. Hopefully, he can pursue an actual professional to remove his nasty ass tooth instead of subjecting himself to an hour of torture.