Open Wide

 I went to the dentist today for the sake of getting work done on one bad molar and three existing crowns. Fun! They were all in the very back of my mouth and the dentist had me opening my mouth to the fullest extent for a while. When the work was finished I noticed that my jaw hurt far more than normal. I've had my teeth worked on since the motorcycle accident, but this time the dental work produced noticable jaw pain. 

My jaw was double-broken as a result of the accident, and I had to have it wired shut for a couple of months. It never made sense to me because I was wearing a helmet that covered my entire head, all the way to below my chin. I don't remember the accident at all, so I have no clue as to how my jaw was broken so badly. In any case, things such as jaw pain resulting from something like a dental appointment only began to occur after the accident. I sometimes experience pain in my jaw from simply chewing food. 

One would think that a visit to the dentist would be a trauma in and of itself. (Isn't that a strange term? Who claims that they "visited" a loan shark or a mortician?)  Yet, this little accident that occurred so many years ago continues to sneak its way into various facets of my life and makes unpleasent events all the more annoying. Yes.. it's annoying.