Pam Padgett ... member of the body of Christ
I want to share what God has done in helping me with a dental problem.
About 3 weeks ago the gums on the bottom right side of my mouth became swollen and sore. The teeth in that area also hurt. I had been eating popcorn each night for a few nights before this and thought that I must have really irritated my mouth with this somehow, and that it would probably resolve itself in a few days. In the meantime I took aspirin to dull the pain and started eating very soft foods.
But, instead of getting better, the pain and swelling increased.
I asked God to please help me. An idea came to rinse my mouth with warm salt water. It was amazing how much this calmed the pain for a while each time I did this! Each time I did this I found myself thanking God for giving me this idea and that it helped so much.
But if I didn't continually used aspirin, rinse with salt water, and eat soft foods the pain became quite severe.
One night the pain kept waking me throughout the night. I prayed and felt I needed to see a dentist. First thing the next morning I called the dentist office and was so happy that someone had just cancelled their appointment for the next day!
The dentist told me that a small piece of bone had broken off under the gums in that area. She referred me to an oral surgeon to have this piece of bone removed.
As soon as she said this I was aware of how jarring this ordinarily would have been to me. But for a few days before this I had been reminded multiple times of a time of when I was a child and a dentist had needed to send me to an oral surgeon. So now when the dentist said I needed to see an oral surgeon, I was not shocked at all. Instead I was calm and, even as the dentist was talking, found myself thanking God for preparing me for this news.
The first appointment available with the oral surgeon was Feb. 28 (3 weeks away).
But last weekend I noticed that my gums didn't seem as swollen and I wasn't needing to take as many aspirin and use salt water as often.
Then Sunday night I was flossing my teeth as usual, trying to be very careful in that area of my mouth, when I became aware that the floss had dislodged something from around a tooth. It was a small piece of bone!
The following day (Monday) there was tenderness, but no pain, in my mouth. That night I was able to eat, and enjoy, some cornbread with the soup I was having for dinner, something I haven't been able to do in weeks. The pain is gone!
After going to bed that night I was reviewing all of these things with God.
Then I remembered that after the dentist referred me to an oral surgeon I had been talking with God about this surgery and told HIM that, although I was very thankful to have been prepared for hearing that I needed to see an oral surgeon, if there was any way I could be spared this I would prefer that. It was strongly in me that, if God chose, HE could work this another way.
I realized that is exactly what HE has done!
I cancelled the appointment with the oral surgeon the following morning.