My first tooth!

 I don't know how I avoided it all this time, but I have not had to pull any teeth yet.  Maybe many of them should have been pulled, but I didn't do it!  Sometimes I checked the bad tooth and found infections.  I gave antibiotics until the infection was gone, but then when the patients felt better they did not come back.  Other times the tooth was not bad enough to pull, and just good oral hygiene was all that was needed.  Yet at other times it seemed that ALL the teeth needed to be extracted because they all were so black and eaten up by beetle nut, but I didn't dare to that.On October3, 2012, it seemed there was no way around it this time.  RrauDee, a 36 year old female came to our door with a terrible toothache.  I looked at the place that was hurting, hoping it was an infection or to find anything that would make the tooth salvageable.  But alas, the tooth was not infected.  It needed to come out!  She had been unable to sleep or eat for 2 weeks!!  To make matters worse it was the dreaded lower back molar!  This meant the nerve block was more difficult.  Two injections of lidocaine were needed to adequately block the nerves, one to the main nerve in the back of the jaw and one in the cheek line at the base of the gum beneath the bad tooth.  I didn't mind pulling the tooth, but the nerve block seemed so difficult and totally "un-nerving" to me.  I had watched extractions on YouTube, but hadn't learned much by them because it seemed they made it all a joke - and this was no joke!  I had studied the book, "Where There is no Dentist,"  which was a huge help, and I knew mentally how to do it."Well,"  I said with authority and confidence, (which I did not have)!  "This tooth must come out today!"  I had all the right instruments, but lacked the proper syringe.  I drew up the lidocaine in a disposable syringe and placed the instruments on a clean cloth.  Next I knelt down in front of the patient and sent up a most earnest plea to God.  "Please dear Heavenly Father, You have never left me and You are with me now.  I need Your help.  You must pull this tooth because I don't know how to do it and I don't want to do it.  Thank-You so much."  Now I was calm and step by step, just as it was written in the book, I successfully blocked the nerves and pulled the tooth out!  It all worked perfectly as if I had done it many times.  The patient was not in pain and was so happy to get rid of that offending monster.  I was filled with joy that God faithfully, once more, had supplied all my needs.  Indeed it was not I that pulled that tooth - it was God!   The inspired words of God's servant, Ellen G. White says:  "God is able and willing to bestow upon His servants all the strength they need and to give them the wisdom that their varied necessities demand.  He will more than fulfill the highest expectations of those who put their trust in Him."  AA 242