You can catch up with the story so far here and here.

So after that first tooth being removed, the revised plan was for the hygienist to give my mouth the once over before the dentist got around to taking out the second, and less problematic, tooth. That didn’t strike me as the best idea because the original plan had been to get my teeth cleaned before yanking the offending ones out.

Anyway, I made the hygienist appointment for a few days after the first removal and paid the £55 for it in advance. Yes, that’s the cost of a thirty minute cleaning on the NHS. I was surprised too. I grudged the amount, but I was prepared to accept it given that it was my fault I was in that position in the first place.

When I went back for my designated slot the hygienist asked if I had had any recent problems with my teeth, and I instantly got the impression she had no idea I had been there a few days earlier for an extraction.

When I explained the situation she took one look inside my mouth and decided against the clean. She said she didn’t want to risk infection, which was always a possibility with an open wound, something that struck me as a little amusing because a few days earlier the dentist had just decided to go ahead after explaining the same thing.

So after mentally preparing myself for it – and having already paid for the treatment – the hygienist sent me away home and told me to come back in a few weeks once the socket had properly healed.

Oh well.

… to be continued…