I have struggled with tooth pain for the past 12 years. Pregnancy was hard on my body and ever since I had Noel I have had tooth complications. As a child I watched my mom walk the same road; I also saw her fall into a deep depression because of her tooth issues and her having to get dentures at a very young age. I have had fear surrounding the dentist since.
I just left the dentist after having a three week complication with a root canal, which in the end resulted in my tooth having to be pulled. The sadness and frustration I feel right now is real; I mean I know it’s just a tooth and people go through far worse things, but I can see right now in this moment how something as seemingly simple as a tooth could really cause a person to fall into sadness. Pain is real, it has become a constant companion of mine over the last 12 years, it’s just something you “get use to.” I can see how my mom, having been through a lot of other pain in life was overcome by the pain, shame and embarrassment of losing her teeth. She retreated from friends and family, it was easy to. Being alone in your pain seems easier but the truth is it’s not. When we can share our pain with those around us, they can help us. God didn’t intend for us to carry pain on our own.The second the needle finally touched the nerve that was causing so much pain I had relief, I felt amazing. Even now I sit here with a swollen cheek, a mouth full of gauze and a hole where there was once a tooth; I am free of pain. Anesthesia is good and it has a place; but how much more does God want us to be out of emotional and spiritual pain, let Him be the great physician, don’t self medicate, it will only relive the pain temporary. Let God take the pain out by the root so that you can be completely free of the pain. Then realize it doesn’t end there with a huge hole in your heart or in may case in my mouth; let your heart heal. Let Him rebuild you, allow him to replace what was causing you pain with something that is firm and solid and completely from Him.
