Say Cheese! (Warning:Graphic Surgery Photos Below)

My smile before my surgery.  Unfortunately, my braces were too much trauma for my body to handle.  My number seven tooth was forced to move too much and it caused the tooth to reabsorb itself.  Even though it looks healthy from the outside, it has been decaying on the inside. (As opposed to a cavity which is decaying from the outside in.)  I had to have the tooth removed and an implant put in it's place.  I will warn you that the next picture might gross some people out.

The tooth has been removed and the implant has been drilled into my bone.  You can see the screw that attaches to the implant where my tooth used to be.
I have been in so much pain the past 24 hours that I thought I'd share these photos.  I also wanted to share them to remind everyone to take care of their teeth.  I took care of mine and unfortunately re-absorption is the result of trauma but if you have a severe cavity, an implant can end up being the only solution.

The implant, which you can't see because it's drilled into my bone, takes six months to heal.  Once six months have passed, I will have a permanent abutment (post) and a permanent crown placed on the post.  I'm pretty excited to get my pretty new tooth!  My doctor assures me it'll be prettier than the original tooth.  In the meantime, I have a temporary post and crown that doesn't serve much of a purpose except to not leave a gap in my teeth.  I can't chew with it or bite into food in that area.

I hope I haven't grossed everyone out.  I think this kind of thing is interesting and I know that my friends that are in the health field will as well.  So if you see me in the near future, do not stare directly at my swollen and bruised face.