I'm not going to panic. I won't. I won't (shiver)

I am getting all my uppers removed this Tuesday and getting an immediate denture. I've been trying to be stoic but it's not working. I need somebody to say, "There, there now. Everything will be just fine. It won't even hurt" That's right lie to me!

I would like to just cancel the whole thing and just go through life not smiling and covering my mouth when a smile escapes....but I know I have to do this.

I've read many of the posts and it is comforting to know I'm not alone. Because of all the advise everyone freely gives I know what to buy to prepare and what to expect after the procedure. So thanks everyone for sharing.

But I still don't want to do it.

Hi

You are going to be very happy when this is done and you will feel the freedom to smile. I will not lie to you, or feel the need to. The extractions should cause minimal discomfort during the procedure. After, for a few days things will be sore, ibuprofen will help a lot. Soft foods, protein drinks to keep up your strength.

You should be very proud of yourself for taking this action. Facing your fears is a big deal. You are doing what fewer than 1% of people will ever do, take action to improve your life. Courage is not the absence of fear. Rather it is moving ahead in spite of fear. When you do this it will empower you to accomplish anything you set your mind to do.

Soon you will have the biggest smile anyone has seen. Smile a lot, the world needs more smiles.

You will do great.

Blessings

hi my names mike

i know hoow yu feel im sure you will do fine wat kind of sedation are yu doing. i havent even started my journy i think i will start it when i get back from my cruise in september

i wish yu all the best ill be thinkin of yu yu can read some of my posts to get to know me better if yu want.

Hi Satala! Went through the same thing July 7th..only for me it was uppers AND lowers. Trust me..you will be fine. Honest. I had pretty much zero pain after the extractions and am quickly learning to speak clearly and best of all..eat! For me it is just a HUGE relief to finally be able to SMILE again!

Thanks to all of you for the words of encouragement. I need them. I am looking forward to smiling again.

I'm having IV sedation which is good. I hope it knocks me out. I don't want to know what they are doing. I once had a molar pulled that must have had it's roots wrapped completely around the bone. The novocain did not work and the tooth kept breaking. As you can imagine I was in severe pain. I still don't understand why the dentist didn't stop and refer me to an oral surgeon. Of course, I should have made him stop but at time I didn't know there was another kind of novocain. I found out when this same dentist (at a later date) tried to pull another tooth. This time when the pain started I said no. I wasn't going through that again. He then referred me to the surgeon who gave me some superduper novocain (or whatever it was) and I didn't feel anything after that. Needless to say I have a new dentist.

TerrifiedWoman--Your journal was the first one I read. Thank you for posting it.

Hope it goes ok, I have had 3 lots of IV sedation now and it was brilliant! It really is amazing stuff

I will be thinking of you.

As stress doc said there is suprisingly very little pain.I was like TW and had all my teeth out March the 10th.I just took painkillers as advised, followed all the post op advice and I really was o.k.

Be proud of yourself that you are doing this, being able to talk freely is such a lovely liberating feeling.Not having to worry what others might think of you because of how you look , gives you so much confidence.

YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU DID THIS!!!, more though, as the going into it is scary but you won't remember or feel a thing. These people do this every day, they will get it just right for you and make you comfortable.

Please let us all know how you got on when you can x

My appointment was 10:30 this morning and I actually went. It's over. Whew. And I didn't run screaming from the office.

When I walked into the office the receptionist said she needed to verify that the upper denture I ordered had a gold tooth in the front. For a second she had me and then I laughed. She said she was trying to calm me down. It worked.

You probably figured out by now that I lived through the procedure. I was awake and asleep, sort of, the whole time. I felt no pain. Not even from the novocain shots. I could hear them talking and felt some pressure as they worked. I even felt the pulling as the stitches were sewn. It was very strange. I was not aware of time and again felt no pain. Every once in a while the Dr would ask me a question, tell me to move this way or that or he would tell me to breathe.

The pain started as the novocain wore off on the ride home. Ow. It was not nice but bearable.


One of my biggest concerns was getting sick from the pain meds. I took Stress Docs advise. As soon as I got home I ate 2 small yogurts and took the pain pill. Here is a very useful tip I got from this website. (I think from TerrifiedWoman) It is very difficult to swallow when you are in pain and have a ton of gauze in your mouth. You put the yogurt on the spoon and then put the spoon in your mouth upside down. A very simple thing that I may have figured out after gagging or hurting myself. It was nice to know what to do beforehand. So far I am not sick. Yeeeaaa!


I was concerned about the gag reflex that many complain about but so far that is not a problem. Another yeeeaaa!

I did experience a lot of bleeding. I had to put a towel under my chin for hours. I didn't want to swallow blood so I had paper towels to soak the mess up. At about 5pm the bleeding lessened from both sides of my mouth but the front is still bleeding. I'm trying to keep ice on the area. And guess what? When the bleeding started to subside so did the pain. A third yeeeaaa!

I do feel a little loopy so if I have written anything that doesn't make sense I'm blaming it on the pain meds.

You guys are so right. The fear was much worse than the procedure. Of course, this is day 1 and I'm not kidding myself. I know there will be an adjustment period that may at times be difficult. But when I need to whine or ask a question I know where to go.
Thanks everybody!!!

Yippee! You did fantastic!!! So glad my tip about the pill in yogurt helped. You should be able to actually swallow a pill within a couple of days.

Congratulations! Now..get some well earned rest.

I am so happy to hear that you went through with it! I look forward to hearing how things go with you, as I'll be doing the same thing day after tomorrow!

I have had a few procedures done (dental and otherwise) under the kind of IV sedation where you are awake and can respond but don't feel any pain or apprehension and barely remember a thing... it is so STRANGE, isn't it?? I just wish I could flip that same switch in my brain sometimes and calm myself down without the meds. Sure would make things like going to the dentist a lot easier!

annabanana said:

I have had a few procedures done (dental and otherwise) under the kind of IV sedation where you are awake and can respond but don't feel any pain or apprehension and barely remember a thing... it is so STRANGE, isn't it??

Click to expand...

That really IS strange. I was like that when I had my extractions done. I could hear them talking, sense movement around me etc...but felt zero pain and wasn't the least concerned with what they were doing in my mouth. I think they could have cut my head off and I wouldn't have cared.

Yesterday I cut up a hotdog into small pieces and added it to some soup. That was not a good idea. I ended up just swallowing the pieces. Still can't chew. Oh, well.

Today is day 5 and the swelling is starting to go down. Now instead of looking like a chipmunk full of acorns I look like a hungry chipmunk. The bruises are developing quite nicely. They are a lovely shade of red and yellow.

A miracle occured today. I wanted to see if the denture would form a suction so I put it in without any glue. It worked. It still moves but it hasn't falled down for about 2 hours. That has given me hope that one day I'll get used to it.

Now if only the aching would stop. It's not bad, just annoying.

Its a shame that you still have the aching, it will improve I'm sure, especially now the swelling is going down. I wasn't able to chew on the denture for at least a week, I lived on yoghurt, soup and scrambled egg and got very bored with it. The suction sounds promising

Hi Satala
Congratulations on your progress!

I've been following your posts but haven't joined in until now, but I wanted to jump in and tell you not to worry about your denture feeling a bit loose - it will naturally get loose as your gum swelling subsides, but you'll return to your dentist soon to get that fixed. (Best to wait about a month if you can, unless you get any sore spots - get them attended to immediately!)

You shouldn't need any kind of glue at all once it's tweaked (soft re-line) to fit your gums perfectly - upper dentures usually don't need them because you have natural suction up there. But in the meantime, until it gets tweaked, if it's feeling a bit loose you might find Seabond wafers a lot easier to use - no goo left on your gums when you remove your dentures.

I've worn upper dentures for 45 years, and have never used glue or Seabond or any other form of adhesive, and I've never had them feel loose or slip.

You're doing great Satala, keep up the good work!

Thanks everybody for your comments. All of the tips are very helpful and encouraging. I've worn the denture for two days now without any glue but I know that won't last. The swelling is going down and my face is almost back to normal.

SandySea--I'm glad to know your denture is working well for you. It gives me hope.

Totalwimp--You made me have a "duh" moment. Scrambled eggs. Whoa. I can swallow that. (good thing I didn't have to take an IQ test before joining the forum) I ran to the kitchen and whipped some up. Boy, did they taste good!

I am sure glad I am not a dentist because my mouth stinks! I brush my remaining 8 lower teeth, lower gums and tongue a lot. I rinse with salt water. I take the antibiotics. It still stinks. So when I open my mouth to get my stitches out on Tuesday I won't be surprised if the dentist leaves the room and comes back wearing a gas mask. Poor man.

Lol Satala at your poor dentist!!

Got the stitches out on Tuesday and now my gums are healing a little faster. I was even able to eat a banana with a spoon. Still can't bite with the front teeth.

Now I have another concern. The upper denture and my remaining lower teeth don't meet correctly. I have 8 front teeth and I wear a partial. It looks like the lower teeth are too far back if that makes sense. Will this change as my upper gums shrink?