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Long Time Coming...but I’m Here.

S

SensedEight

Junior member
Joined
Jan 17, 2018
Messages
15
I’m not even sure how to start this or what to really say. I’ve always been terrible with this, but I’m finally at a point in my life where fixing my teeth is an actual, viable option.

I’d been to the dentist twice before. Once for an impacted wisdom tooth in 2008 and once for a tooth infection in 2013. Neither times were particularly positive but either were they terribly neutral. The doctor I saw for the tooth infection didn’t listen to me at all. At the time I didn’t know why I couldn’t take opiates and other medications without getting incredibly sick, just that the pain relief had never been worth the illness I got when taken them. I tried explaining this to him and he shooed me off with a script for Tylenol #3. Needless to say, I never got it filled.

In 2015, I learned that my liver function has been compromised genetically. I’m incapable of metabolizing certain medications that use specific liver enzyme to break them down and work. As a result, more of the drug stays in my system for longer at higher concentrations than a person my size with complete liver function would. I have to take half, quarter, or in the case of opiates and over the counter cough medication, none. So finding doctors who are aware of the situation or actually believe me are few and far inbetween. Knowing the amount of dental work I needed though, I was hesitant to attempt to find a doctor and staff who would care. Seemed like a tall order, right? A dental clinic with staff who care and listen while simultaneously ensuring they won’t shame or lecture me because of rotten and bad my teeth were.

Surprise though! I found it! And it was literally a half block from my house!

So I went in for my first appointment (just finished) and have to say that the worst part for me was over. It’s always harder to advocate for yourself than for others and I’m really proud of how I managed to handle everything.

I’m heading back in a half an hour for a deep periodontal cleaning (sounds fun, right?) and to take impressions for the dentures. The original plan was to save as many as my upper teeth as we could but after an estimate of $30,000 (boy did that smart) we decided to go ahead and just extract all the uppers and the four lowers and have a full plate done up top with two bridges for the bottoms. So far I’m pretty content with the idea of it, having no teeth up top would look far better than what is currently there. I’d also been expecting that as a last resort. Luckily with my insurance and the new treatment plan, we were in far more affordable territory. Still a bit of a pinch, but I’ll be able to smile again. After going so long without, it’ll be nice to have some confidence.

So. That’s where we stand today. Hopefully after my afternoon cleaning, things will still be looking up. But I have to say that the immense anxiety I had over this appointment today was definitely eased by reading posts here at this forum so I felt I should share this to see if maybe I can help anyone else overcome this.
 
Welcome, and congratulations on taking control of your dental health! You’re definitely in the right place to meet a lot of folks who have been there and done that. Lots of luck at your appointment today, please keep us updated as to how you’re doing.
 
Thank you! I’m glad to finally be starting this. With all the anxiety involved just getting started so far was the hardest part.

I had my initial consultation yesterday morning and in the afternoon I had a deep periodontal cleaning and the two impressions for the dentures. At the same time I was able to schedule the date for the extractions and initial denture fitting. I’m surprised at how quickly this is moving along.

The cleaning was not what I expected, at all. It was with the same hygienist who measured the bone and gum during the initial consultation. Working with someone familiar was incredibly helpful.

He asked if anything was sensitive and at the time I had said no—since I’d lost a lot of sensation in the worst of the teeth—he and I opted for no Novocain. He started with a high pressure water pick, I assume anyway. The water was lukewarm and didn’t hurt the teeth at all. Around the gums were another story though! But I’ve a few tattoos and honestly, they were far worse than the pick and the scraping. The scraping was the weirdest part. It sounded like it would hurt and the sensation felt like it should hurt, but it didn’t at all. Just...odd. The following water blast with little granule things only hurt near the gum line. All in all, it wasn’t a wholly unpleasant experience. In fact, if it wasn’t for him talking to me and the occasional poke too low on the gums, I probably could’ve fallen asleep.

Also weirdly, the absolute worst part of the experience was making the impressions. We had to do the upper three times, all of which was a millimeter away from hitting my gag reflex. The lowers were far easier, though. The aftertaste reminded me a little of those old plastic bubbles—the ones from the 80s and 90s that came in metal tubes and you would put a small amount on a tiny straw and blow it up? It was similar to that. Or kerosene. It was an unpleasant taste but she gave me some listerine afterwards. Which...

I honestly can’t recommend using listerine after a deep teeth cleaning. Man did that sting a little. Whew! I highly recommend asking for warm water.

I got home with the new electric toothbrush that I bought there before realizing that in less than a week I’ll only have a handful of teeth to brush. It came with three brush heads, will probably gift it to my spouse and just use the soft brush.

So. The extraction is Tuesday. All my uppers and four or five of my lowers are getting pulled. I’m certainly looking forward to Tuesday. I can’t wait to be able to smile again.
 
Are those top impressions not crazy?! I so agree with ya! Anyhow sending you many good thoughts as you get these things worked out. I hope you will get it worked out quickly. Lots of us understand the anxiety and will root you on.
 
Thank you so much! The top impressions really were the worst of the preparations.

Today was the extractions and the immediate dentures. Right away I noticed two things: in pretty sure after I heal I won’t have a single issue with wearing the top plate at all. Especially if the more permanent dentures fit this well.

My advice to anyone reading this on the first day you get your immediate dentures: Feel it out and have patience! Nothing really fit right until after the numbing stuff wore off and then they adhered like magic. It was great!

Let’s start from the beginning though.

My anxiety was through the roof just before the extraction. I wasn’t sure how well I’d tolerate anything afterwards so I ran to the grocery store and found an excellent deal on those prepackaged jello and pudding cups. Also grabbed some soups and fruit cups just for some variety. I’m a Boy Scout at heart and the silly “Be prepared!” has always kind of stuck with me.

Anyway. The extraction. When we did my X-rays a few days ago we noticed I had an infection in one tooth down at the root. He gave me some antibiotics but rather than postpone we went ahead with the extraction. I honestly can say I recommend postponing if you have a tooth infection. The numbing medication will work! But not nearly as well on teeth that aren’t infected. My entire upper right quadrant was numb except the one tooth and I didn’t realize it until he started digging it out and hit the nerve. It was certainly an unexpected jolt! I know it sounds scary but listen—it was nothing, absolutely nothing, like having a bad tooth or chronic infections or an exposed nerve. If you’d dealt with any of those problems, then you’d understand what I mean. After so many years with bad teeth, the three teeth we found that had an infection and was resistant to the numbing medication were ones I could easily point to based on the nerve pain during the extraction.

I know, nerve pain sounds really bad, right? It truly, seriously, wasn’t anywhere near as bad as an infection. Or a hole in a tooth that you have to regularly dig food out of and always hit the nerve with the pick or your fingernail or whatever apparatus you use. Really, the extraction of all my uppers were nowhere near as bad as a tooth infection. I was pleasantly surprised. I had 18? I think 18 teeth removed today and I only felt five of them. Three were an infection and two were just needing a top up of numbing stuff by the time he got to them.

Now, I have a hair trigger gag reflex on my left side. We discovered it doing the X-rays and it caused some issues with numbing that side because the numbing medication would squirt down that side of my mouth and hit the nerve just right to send me gagging. The right side was perfectly fine. The technician and the doctor were amazing though. They even giggled because every couple minutes or so I’d ask for water to help get the taste out of my mouth. Seriously. Ask for water during the extractions. It helped so very much.

After the extractions were done and my doc high-fived me, the denture tech came in with my upper plate and bottom partials. They slid right in, no fuss, but I was bleeding so much every time we’d try to adhere the top plate, the saliva and blood would squirt back on my left side hitting they gag reflex just right. I was honestly miserable because I couldn’t remove the dentures and my lips were so swollen from the numbing medication I couldn’t open my mouth or feel my tongue or work it at all in order to spit out all the liquid. Once I got home, against their advice, I took the dentures out and rinsed my mouth out gently. I couldn’t stop gagging and once I did that and everything slid back into place, it was much better. Looking back, I wished I’d asked if I could rinse my mouth before placing the dentures in the first time. Might have helped quite a bit.

The pain was bad. Felt like I had multiple inflamed nerves but nothing I hadn’t dealt with before. Once the pain meds kicked in I was feeling even better. About an hour after the bleeding stopped, my gums swelled up a bit and entire upper plate kind of..snapped or adhered in place. I can now open my mouth, talk, drink a little bit (have to use the huge iced tea glasses with the wide rim, cause I look like I got stung by a bee on my bottom lip. It’s hilarious!) and overall function fairly well.

It’s a little after midnight now and my last tooth was extracted at or around 7:15pm, and the pain meds (and anti nausea meds. If you get even remotely nauseated from pain meds, seriously, ask for anti nausea!) have helped dramatically.

I was feeling a bit emotional between the last extraction and finally getting home, the pain, bloody drooling, and incredibly loose top plate were seriously having an effect on my psyche. Now that the top plate finally set into place and most of the pain is gone, I’m back to being positive! And I have to say, my spouse is absolutely amazing and I couldn’t have done it without him. Dude deserves all the props for putting up with me.

I hope, truly hope, that this account helps even just one person take the plunge and do this. I’ve not even had my temporary dentures more than 6 hours and I’m already incredibly happy with them. I can’t wait until I get the permanent set.
 
Ahhh, I'm so glad everything has gone so well for you! Congratulations ? I really enjoyed reading your posts and your wonderful humour and upbeat personality certainly came through. It made me realize how important it is to have a good attitude. It's been really inspirational to read about your experience so thank you!
 
Thank you so much! ;) I love when I can at least make someone else smile.

I’ve a handful of health issues and I learned long ago that looking on the bright side and find humor in most everything is best for me. So I always try, at least, to turn everything into a joke or at least look on the bright side.

I’m at day...four? I think and things seem to be healing nicely. I’m disappointed I can’t wear the bottom partial at all but on Monday I go in for a post-op check so I’m going to have them look over the bottom partial for me. There are four or so little pointy bits that hurt something fierce! Plus I gagged when he tries numbing the bottom left side and I think when I did that the needle might’ve torn part of my soft palate just to left of where my tongue sits. I can feel a bit of a hole there and any pressure on it hurts like the dickens. (Side note: what an odd phrase that is, really.)

But its all worth it because I can smile again! In a little bit I’ll hunt down my before photos so you all can see just why I’m still riding the high of being able to smile without feeling self conscious. We went out to the store the other day and I caught myself looking down whenever I interacted with someone. I made a note to start making eye contact and smiling in the future.

Because I can!

I just can’t wait until I can eat a Reese’s peanut butter cup though. Or a Cadbury cream egg. Oh man I’m so glad I’ll be healed by Easter. I suspect I’m going to gain so much weight from the chocolate I’ve had to deny for so long...

Ooo! And soft serve ice cream! And ice cold drinks! And food with little bits of hard stuff like mint chocolate chip ice cream!

Before the extractions, I’d had one tooth that rotted from the bottom up. The top of the tooth looked normal and healthy but it had a huge hole from the gum line up and no matter what I ate, how careful I was, that silly tooth would always find a way to collect at least half of whatever it was I was eating. Darn thing must’ve been hungry or something. But it’s gone now! I ate lasagna today and it was incredibly weird not having to stop and pick out half a noodle from inside a tooth.

...hurray! ;)
 
Found the before photo and took an after photo. I honestly just can't wait until I can eat, but in the meantime I'm going to smile everywhere now!
 

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Wow! Your teeth are amazing! Thanks for sharing your photos with us all, it is so good to be able to actually see the results of all your hard work and courage :)
 
Thank you! I love compliments now. :p It’s amazing how different it is. I find myself smiling more and not forcing my lips together to hide my teeth.

Due to a quirk of my body chemistry, I can’t take the pain medication he provided, so these last couple days, the pain has gotten a bit worse and was starting to make me a bit emotional. I was almost thinking that I’d made a mistake. But today it’s been heaps better. I suspect I’ll have second thoughts a few more times, but I’m over the worst of it. Just adjusting now.

They do look great, though, don’t they? I’m always amazed when I see myself in the mirror after putting them in. Makes it so much better. And they’re not even the final “permanent” pair!
 
The set up looks really great!!! You'll find yourself smiling more and more! It took me a while to remember that I didn't have to 'hide' my smile anymore or cover my mouth to laugh, it was such a long habit of mine - it's very much of a confidence boost being able to smile without worrying how they looked!

When I had my extractions and the healing denture placed my gums would swell and shrink for several months until everything healed properly. One week they would fit nice and snug, the next the gums would shrink and w/out adhesive they would wobble all over the place. I think I went once a month for relines until everything settled down. After much healing, salt water rinses and a soft diet I couldn't wait to dive into more solid foods.

Another trick I learned once I could eat solids again (aside of foods that you would cut up and eat like chicken or steak) was it was easier to bite up using the bottoms vs down using the tops for certain foods (hot dogs, burgers and sandwiches are perfect examples) if I tried biting down on those it felt as if I were tearing the food off rather then simply taking a bite. And the back of the upper denture would flip down because it put too much pressure on the top front. But if I bit up from the bottoms it would cut right through. Oddly enough bread was the trickiest thing for me because it seemed like it would turn back to dough and stick (and I mean stick!) to the roof of the denture and I'd have to end up using my fingers to get it un-suctioned. However if I lightly toasted the bread I had little to no issues that way. Just a few tips to help save any frustrations.


I don't know if you had to have any grafting done or not - but if not your gums will continue to shrink over time due to bone loss and people eventually tend to lose that upper lip support. So before you get your perms make sure you talk with your dentist about that. He can have the upper and lower flanges built more up and bulked out a bit to keep the space between your nose and lips from flatting out or having the top lip start to curl under over time.

Keep us updated and congratulations on your new smile!
 
I just wanted to let you know I’ve read your story and I’m so very happy all is going so well for you!:)
 
Hellkatbaby:

Thank you for the advice! A lot of that is incredibly helpful, especially now that I’m having a period with little swelling and they’re moving whenever I put too much pressure on the front. I have a hair trigger gag reflex and sometimes the back will flip down just a hair which is just enough to set me on a fit. I’m responding as I eat some macaroni in a meat sauce.

I still can’t eat any kind of beef though. For some reason unless I cut it exceptionally small, immediately biting down on it hurts something awful. No matter how tender it is. I’m Italian and we make this amazing dish which is essentially a whole steak cooked all day long in a slow cooker with a thin tomato sauce. The meat comes out so tender you can shred it with a fork and it’s amazing. Unfortunately, even that tender is too tough at the moment.

Weirdly, except for chicken breast, most poultry meat is fine. Ground beef is okay, since little chewing is required. I’m just happy I’m over the initial soup and apple sauce phase. I was able to eat one of those happy meal cheeseburgers from McDonalds the other day. Decided to try again last night but they overcooked the meat so much it was rubber. I was so incredibly disappointed.

It’s way too early to use any type of glue, and I still have the hole from the needle in my soft bottom palate and every time I wear the bottoms it rips it right back open, so sadly I can’t wear them just yet. The hole is positioned so that every time I swallow it’s like I’m getting stabbed. You don’t realize how much you swallow throughout the day until you can’t!

Any ideas on how to secure the tops during the times when the swelling is down? I can’t wear them if every time I move my head to the right or left or swallow the wrong way I go into a gagging fit.

I’m still incredibly happy! Just going through that adjustment phase.
 
Anxious:

Thank you so much! It’s my hope that anyone who reads this will know somewhat of what to expect. These journals were instrumental in me decided to ultimately go through with this and helped me make the final plunge. Hopefully mine can add and help alleviate as much of the anxiety involved as possible!
 
When they would shrink before I could use adhesive all over - I would put just a dab on the very roof so it only hit the roof of my mouth. It didn't help much eating wise but it kept them from just plopping down if I opened my mouth. On those days I would just stick with a soft diet or a meal shake. At the end of the day I would just do a salt water rinse to loosen the adhesive a bit before taking them out.


Since you have that gag reflex once you are able to use an adhesive (if you'll need it) I would recommend Fixodent powder. It takes very, very little but a much better than the goo. I found I spent more time trying to scrape that off the roof of my mouth than I cared for.

Hope your bottom start to heal soon! It will all be worth it when all is said and done!
 
Thank you! I tried again today and I couldn’t even walk the few feet from the bathroom sink to the stairs without gagging so hard I accidentally dislodged and spit them out. Originally I was planning and seeing if I could schedule my refitting earlier just to get the back filed down some since I can’t wear them at all now but now I’m excited to try some of the powder.

I think I figured out the logistics of that spot causing problems on the bottoms and if I’m correct, there won’t be much I can do until the hole is fully healed.

My suspicion is since I’d gagged so hard as he was trying to numb that spot there, the needle might’ve torn a larger hole than expected since it was inserted when I’d gagged. Without the bottom dentures in, I was able to feel the hole with my tongue so I knew something wasn’t quite...right in that spot. After a day or two it’d healed over just fine and I had my post-op follow up where he shaved a few of the other troublesome spots off the bottoms but we couldn’t figure out why I still felt like I was being poked in the side of the tongue whenever I swallowed. After I got home and took out the bottoms, the hole was back.

I think what’s happening is the dentures are fitting perfectly but are restricting the movement and elasticity of the palate so when I move my tongue, which naturally moves the palate, it’s pulling against the dentures causing the healed-but-not-completely-healed hole to reopen every time I swallow. The gums on the bottom extraction sites have mostly healed over nicely so I think I’ll give it a try in a couple days again. I have the checkup-refitting-reline appointment in March, so by then I should be good to go.

The upper extraction sites are causing a bit more problems and I think I may need him to remove part of a wisdom tooth I’d thought had been completely extracted back around 2008ish. We found out from my X-rays that some tooth had been left in but it wasn’t bothering me at all (I didn’t even know about it til the X-rays!) but now that some swelling has gone down I can feel it and it sort of hurts.

Speaking of pain...

I know I’m healing slower than normal, I understand and know the reasons especially for the upper gums, but is the weird itching almost burning sensation common? Most sites and people just say discomfort but the itching...and burning is sometimes enough to drive me mad. I tried eating some jello two days ago and the coldness caused the gums to itch and burn even more so I’m just wondering if it’s some sort of sensitivity that’ll slowly disappear. Kind of like my brain and nerves are getting used to the increased stimulation and I won’t even notice in the future, maybe? I haven’t the foggiest.

There is one spot that is incredibly painful immediately upon inserting the dentures but the pain disappears after about 30-40 seconds and doesn’t come back unless I go longer than an hour or two without wearing them. I’ve tried orajel, which worked well but the taste is too similar to the Novocain and with the dentures hitting my gag reflex, I’m kind of unable to actually do anything about it but I think once I get the gag reflex under control and can wear the dentures regularly again, it’ll help heal that spot.

Now food! This is the absolute best part!

I can eat! I can eat! Today I had a pork chop slow cooked in BBQ sauce all day and mashed potatoes. It was the largest amount of protein I’ve had since the extraction and you have no idea how delicious it was. I don’t even like BBQ sauce all that much but oh man was I happy. I also managed to gum my way through a lemon cream muffin and a corn dog! Though the hot dog portion was harder to eat, but still! Food! Guys I can eat real food (sort of!) again! Also, with my dentures, I can eat two whole Frosted Flakes! Anything more and my gums start to feel a bit angry from the pressure but hearing that crunch without any pain was absolutely spectacular. Even before the extractions I couldn’t eat Frosted Flakes dry because either the uppers were broken, the bottoms were broken, or the one tooth that matched with another below it would be infected.

Hurray! Progress! Even the worst days of this experience has been positive and in some ways better than with my natural teeth!

I know this is getting long but I have to share a fun anecdote that’ll amuse anyone reading this:

I had a bottom molar that had rotted from the gum line into the tooth, and downward so the top of the tooth was untouch but it had a gaping crater on the side. It only hurt when food or a tooth pick or my fingernail would hit the exposed nerve but no matter how careful I was and where I chewed, the stupid thing would collect half of whatever I ate. After every meal I’d have to go to the bathroom and dig and brush and do everything to clean it out. Some days it would irritate the nerve and some days it would just feel like it was stuffed with wool.

Anyway. That tooth is gone but after so many years with that, after I eat *anything* I still “feel” that tooth being stuffed even though it isn’t there anymore. It is the oddest sensation and always makes me giggle a little bit after I catch myself bringing my hand to my mouth or moving my tongue to try and nudge the food out.

So weird.

Anyway, I’ll head to the pharmacy and grab the powder and see if that helps and report back.

And to anyone reading this trying to decide to go the route or not, just know that even though I’ve had a few hiccups and things aren’t exactly ideal, I’m actually feeling less overall pain and less anxiety at every meal than I had with teeth. Even now, with healing gums, eating is already far less painful and frustrating than with the bad teeth I had. It’s pretty awesome.
 
Emotional day here. Trying to be positive but it’s a bit rough.

Still gagging pretty bad with the uppers in. I managed to get the powder and attempted to use it to keep the back of them secure but it turns out a big part of the problem is my gums in the front have reduced swelling so much that the dentures sit farther back now and that’s causing the gagging.

I was so hungry and my gums and palate were hurting a bit that after the third and fourth attempt at using the adhesive, I gave up and applied it to the entirety of the denture. Don’t tell my dentist.

But. Wow, adhesive makes a huge difference to the comfort! I didn’t gag at all though I could feel if I moved my head the wrong way or breathed wrong that I would gag, but I was able to eat some meat and I was so incredibly happy. I can’t wait until I’m healed enough to use the adhesive like that again. I got a glimpse of the future and I look forward to it so much. It helped address that creeping “This was all a mistake!” feeling that was starting. I’m not ashamed to admit that I was almost in tears during the initial attempts at securing the back. I felt almost like I’d never be able to eat solid food again and that I’d always have the sore and painful gums. Honestly, I was pretty close to breaking down. It wasn’t a good mood. But feeling them secured like that really helped reset it and made me feel the hope and excitement I felt at the beginning of this journey.

I was worried about removing them because I’d used the adhesive all over and I knew I wasn’t even remotely healed enough to be able to use the adhesive like that. Luckily I didn’t do any noticeable damage. That is until it came time to get the adhesive out of my mouth. I ended up brushing the wrong way or too hard and did bleed a little. Though it was very little and stopped almost immediately, I know I won’t be able to do that again until I’m a bit more healed.

Wearing the denture was enough to give my mouth a break. My gums don’t really hurt at all when I can wear them which is an amazing feeling. Without them, the pain is pretty uncomfortable. Enough that I’m still using a half dose of my pain meds to get through the middle of the day. I’m hoping the dentist or prosthodontist can see me soon to trim them somehow, I’m worried that I won’t be able to wear them at all until I’m healed and can wear adhesive.

Still feeling a bit emotional but getting better about it. Knowing this was the right thing to do intellectually doesn’t mean I feel it psychologically. Documenting this has helped tremendously though and you who’ve commented words of encouragement and advice, I really can’t thank you enough.

I really, really, want some potato chips or pizza right now though. But broccoli and cheese soup will do for now.
 
Ten days since the last update. Probably because it has been pretty frustrating. I haven’t been able to wear them and wasn’t able to see the dentist about it until this past Monday.

We were able to file the back down but I still couldn’t wear them without gagging. The technician was incredibly nice and sympathetic but there wasn’t much that could be done. I was able to get two tooth fragments removed though. Got a few more coming out but hopefully by July things’ll ease up.

They scheduled me for a soft reline for today and I had that done. It was the first time I had both the full upper plate and the bottoms in at the same time since a few days after the extraction. I’m incredibly impressed that I didn’t gag. The technician smoothed and polished the back of the upper plate which helped but then the soft reline was...

Well. I didn’t gag. Though I almost did. Entirely because of the taste and smell of the reline material. I’m glad this is only the immediate dentures because I honestly don’t ever want to taste that again. Ugh. I’ve been googling all over trying to find a way to combat the taste and smell of the reline but it looks like I’m suck just waiting a few days for it to dissipate. So. Fingers crosses.

I’m feeling pretty dejected. It’s getting harder to stay positive at this point. The irritation from the bone spurs, the gagging from the dentures, the soft food diet, the grieving period of losing teeth...and now the taste and smell of that terrible soft reline material. Feels like it is all adding up and making me almost regret this.

But then I had them in my mouth today and smiled and even though they’re the immediates, they look good.

I can’t wait until I can wear them. Trying to hang in there but it’s awfully hard.

All well. Stay positive!
 
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