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But You're Too Young for Dentures!

Oh, and to the people who've commented:

Thanks for everything you've said, I've read it all, and I apologize for not being more responsive. At my best I'm not much of a people-person and I'm definitely not at my best right now.

I do appreciate it though, and welcome anything you've got to say, suggest, or whatever. You can ask me questions or even criticize things I've said if you have genuine constructive criticism - I'm not easily offended and I have a very thick skin.
 
Quick follow up:

Went to the store, got a few things including "Fresh Mint Sea-Bond Denture Adhesive Wafers". I had no problems with the dentures aside from the usual discomfort, mostly in the lowers.

The uppers actually stayed in place without adhesive, though they didn't feel very secure. I felt pretty comfortable and even spoke with a couple people very briefly. I wouldn't want to try to chew anything like that, however. Without the adhesive it seemed as though I had less of an overbite as well. Maybe it's just the healing process or maybe just my imagination.

The adhesive wafers will have to wait for testing until I feel like putting the dentures back in - probably tomorrow. The bottom of the box mentions a "Satisfaction Guaranteed" system so if I don't like them I can mail off to get my $3.50 back. I doubt I'll bother with it even if I don't like them, which I imagine they expect most people to do.


The whole thing was a success, though. It was pretty nice to be able to smile a bit without worrying how people would react. No one pointed and screamed "dentures" so either they didn't realize (most likely) or didn't say anything. Realistically the only people who spend much time trying to figure out if someone else's teeth are real or not are probably those of us who are really self-conscious about our own, right?
 
Recipes for few to no teeth:

One of the most important - and easiest to overlook - things when getting some extensive dentistry work done is eating enough and eating properly.

I know all too well how much having extractions or new dentures can destroy your sense of hunger, so I thought it'd be good to point out a couple of my favorite recipes designed to pack as much hearty nutrition into a dish as densely as possible. The idea is that even when I don't feel hungry to eat very much I can eat a little bit of one of these things to get a lot of nutrition.


This one I just came up with today. I was reheating a twice-baked potato from earlier (does that make it a twice-baked, one-microwaved potato?) and was overcome by the sudden urge to have some eggs too. I figure this was a protein craving - my body trying to tell me what it needs. So I scrambled up an egg, seasoned liberally with onion powder and garlic powder and then tossed in a dash of season salt to taste.

I then mixed this in with the twice-baked potato, which was a store-bought cheddar and broccoli potato from a local deli. I also tossed in some extra cheese for flavor, and a bit more protein. My philosophy is that anything that's improved with garlic and/or cheese is further improved by more of them. (My wife and I share this opinion, thankfully. We're just a couple notches down from simply eating cheese covered garlic cloves.)

Very tasty.

Remember, if you're eating without your dentures you want to let it cool so you don't burn your gums and sensitive extraction sites.


Adding scrambled eggs to things is a great way to bulk them up and boost the protein content. They can be seasoned to fit many dishes and don't tend to overpower existing flavors.


Now this is my pride and joy, and something I don't openly share with much of anyone. In fact, this is the first time I've ever posted this recipe online. I haven't settled on a name for it, but I like to call it "Broccoli Cream Soup" because it looks and tastes like it and is so much more.

Ingredients:
  • 2 cans of cheddar cheese soup
  • 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
  • milk (per instructions on cans)
  • Broccoli - I usually use one regular-size bag frozen florets
  • Ham - half-pound, whatever you like
  • Cheese - half a pound to one pound, whatever varieties you prefer. Should be something that melts smooth. I particularly like Provolone and Baby Swiss.
  • Seasonings - I use oven-roasted garlic and garlic powder both, onion, salt, and whatever other herbs and spices seem right. A "secret" ingredient of mine is a dash of liquid smoke flavoring. Really kicks up the ham.
You'll need to have a food processor if you want to do this really creamy the way I like it. Put your broccoli, ham, and any course flavoring (like the garlic cloves or onion) through the food processor. If it doesn't flow nicely, add the milk the soup cans require to the mix to smooth it out. Put the cheese in too if you can get it to blend nicely.

Alternately you can use a regular blender, but it takes longer and will require more milk. I also feel that it doesn't get quite as smooth a consistency.

Get yourself a big stock pot and empty the three soup cans into it. Whatever milk wasn't used to lubricate the blender/food processor goes in, dial up the heat about halfway (maybe a little more) and add everything that's been blended (if you have any cheese that didn't or wasn't blending into small pieces, hold those back).

Stir as frequently as time and muscles allow.

Once everything is starting to cook nicely (you're getting some bubbling action) break up any cheese you have left and feed it in while making sure it melts completely. Dash in some liquid smoke flavoring at this point and after a few minutes start your tasting and seasoning until you get the flavor profile you're looking for. Once everything has been thoroughly heated at this level for 10 minutes you can turn the heat off and serve, or (as I prefer) turn the heat down to simmer, where you get just the faintest amount of bubbles lifting the surface, and continue to stir while the flavors really mature and work their way through all the components of the soup.

I have never made this soup completely the same way twice. Last time I subtracted a few ounces of ham and put in quite a bit more baked white meat chicken that had been thoroughly "crumbled" by the food processor. The basic proportions of soup, cheese, and meat are what you want to observe, but they're not set in stone. Just remember I like it really cheesy, so you might want to start with a little less. A full pound of cheese make a heavy soup.

This recipe makes around 7-8 servings the way I dish it up, with about 2.5 ladle's-full per serving. (About 2/3rds of the way up the side of a typical bowl.) Realistically this would probably be considered 1.5 to 2 servings by most nutritionists.

It's the kind of soup that sneaks up on you - it tastes fantastic and doesn't seem heavy, but quickly fills you up. It's common to reach the top of your stomach before the bottom of the bowl. I have never served it to anyone who asked for seconds.

And, best of all, if you really get everything processed to fine bits, it requires no chewing at all.

Many of my taste-testers have said it tastes even better re-heated. As I said before I like to call it "Broccoli Cream Soup" or "Broccoli Cheese Soup" because it closely resembles what is commonly cooked under those names, but has the real punch it delivers cleverly disguised. So I serve it under that name waiting for those who eat it to discover the true power of the soup. The meats contribute a strong savory aspect to the soup but don't overpower the main components enough to really take over.

You may have heard the advertising slogan, "The soup that eats like a meal". This is the soup that IS a meal.


For added weight (as if that were even necessary) you can pour half a bowl, put a slice of bread on top, then cover that with the other half bowl of soup. Heat and let the soup soak into the bread. (If you're low on chewing power you'll probably want to cut the crust off the bread first.)

I call that a "soup sandwich", but eat it with a spoon anyway. :p
 
I love reading your journal.You have quite an amazing way with words.

Oh and when I first had my top denture I used the sea bond adhesive strips cause they we're comfy and you just peel it right off...no mess.

Again I love your journal and look forward to reading more.:jump:
 
Thanks. I'm just conceited enough to know that I write very well ;) but it's always nice to hear. (I'm a writer so it stands to reason that I'm pretty good at it.) With some luck I can spend more time working on my own stuff rather than the contract work that helps pay the bills.

Writers are like most "artists" - we either have real jobs or we don't have much money. Only the rare few end up like J.K. Rowling. My real job involves writing, but not in any kind of creative outlet. So I just keep telling myself that someday I'll get some books published and be able to really devote myself full time to that.

I don't expect to have much of an update today, mainly because I don't plan to do anything with my dentures. I need to get a lot of work done because I haven't done much of anything since the extractions so I'm just going to sit here and work. I don't need teeth for that since I vastly prefer fingers for typing.

I've got coffee brewed and waiting so I expect continued good spirits. My current plan is to test out the Sea-Bond strips tomorrow because I've learned that on Tuesday we're going to one of my wife's coworker's house for dinner. A bit soon for my taste, but the food they wanted to make was soft anyway (salmon and either mashed or baked potatoes) and if they decide to do a vegetable side like green beans we'll probably bring our food processor to grind my portion up.

They're cool people so I don't feel too uncomfortable exhibiting my less than stellar eating skills. And I can always take a doggie bag home and finish it there if I need to.
 
New Recipe:

I'm not claiming this is innovative or anything, I just "invented" it locally without any knowledge as to whether anyone else has done anything like it (I would guess someone has). But I put a toothless twist on it.


Toothless Breakfast Burrito


I'm not going to go into a lot of detail because, frankly, I don't feel like it. I'm typing and eating this dish.

Get yourself a pound of ground beef, one of those taco/burrito seasoning packets, a can of refried beans, an egg, whatever other seasonings you like, cheese, and some salsa (milder probably a good idea if you're still healing).

Don't quote me on this but I think I might have read something about salsa being good for gums. I don't have a clue if that's right, it's a vague memory.

Cook the meat per the instructions on the seasoning packet and heat up the beans in the microwave - use a dish big enough for everything (saves dishwashing). Season the meat further if you like. Once those two are done, mix together with cheese to taste. Cook your egg, mix it in once it's done, and then finally add in salsa.

If you're "few teeth" rather than "toothless" you can roll it up in a tortilla or whatever appropriate food vehicle you like. If you're like me, just eat it with a fork.



Anyone else notice they have a heavier hand with seasonings while they're on a soft-food diet? I suspect it's because without the teeth to really chew it up properly it's harder to release all the flavor, so I'm really craving stronger flavors.
 
Today's Update:

Well I've got the dentures in - didn't wear them at all yesterday. I cut one of the Sea-Bond adhesive pads into smaller pieces so that it just fits the palate section of the upper and used that. I did it partly to make them last longer (each pad makes 3 smaller pieces) and partly because I just don't want adhesive over the extraction sites since my right upper molars were taken about 3 weeks ago and is still a bit sensitive.

Early results are positive. The pad seems to stick decently well, it doesn't seem as good as the paste but it doesn't cover as much area as I applied paste to so there's a good chance it'll do even better when I use a full-sized pad. They're about $0.25 each so not too bad on cost.

The lower is still loose and uncomfortable, even painful in spots. It seems to be a little better than before, but today I'll see how long I can wear it before I want to take it out, and probably give it a little test run with some soft food. I'm supposed to be eating dinner tomorrow night at a friend of my wife's house, so it'd be nice to actually be capable of that. I think not wearing the dentures at all yesterday helped out a lot with healing.

On the other hand, I've noticed a little less jaw joint/muscle pain since putting them in, so having them out seems to have a negative effect on that.

Oh, huge Postive: The overbite seems to be gone. It's still a bit of a stretch to get my lips comfortably closed, but it is nothing as unnatural feeling as it was before. In fact, it could almost be considered a negative because it's now much easier to bring the incisors together tip-to-tip (nibbling) which puts slightly painful pressure on the front gums.

More later...
 
Okay, well not as much to report as I'd planned for.

I had them in for a couple hours before I took them out. I could've left them in longer, but I was considering the possibility that the longer I wore them the sorer I might be tomorrow, making it more painful to leave them in tomorrow night. As much as I really don't want to make that whole thing about the fact that I have dentures, I'm not exactly the kind of person who'll suffer quietly. If I need to, I'll just take them out.

Anyway, the small test of the Sea-Bond pads worked pretty well. The hold wasn't especially strong, as I said before. Using a whole pad would likely fix that, but my uppers fit well enough that I don't need a lot of hold. It was also easier to unstick. It came out of my mouth with just a little coaxing and peeled off the denture pretty easily.


I've modified my medication schedule. Instead of taking 600-800mg of Ibuprofen as needed (no more than every 4 hours) I've been doing 400mg of Ibuprofen and 200mg of Tylenol. The reasoning behind that is that they work differently and have different types of pain their best at dealing with. The Tylenol in particular was chosen as it's supposed to be better at dealing with joint/muscle pain like what I'm dealing with in my jaw joint/muscle.

I was going to put them back in and do a test meal, but never got around to it. I just drank a protein shake since I wasn't very hungry to keep the nutrition going. In order to maximize how long I can be comfortable in them I'm planning not to put them in until just before we leave for dinner. But I may end up popping them in for a brief jaunt to the store for some plant food.
 
Update:

Last night went better than expected. There wasn't a lot of chewing necessary, but the green beans were a bit more than I could manage easily. I ate a few of them but gave up. Everything else was great.

The lowers were a bit painful/uncomfortable to start off with, but most of the spots that were initially problematic weren't much of an issue later on, though a few new spots developed. I was relieved to get home and take them out, but overall it wasn't as bad as I'd feared.


A little spur of bone I had on the outside upper left side that I was pretty sure was actually attached (they'd worked on it before) turned out to just be a floating bit and it came loose last night after I took the teeth out. Nice and smooth over there now.


My energy levels and mood are significantly improved. There's a lot less pain and discomfort in my extraction sites (pretty much just one spot right in front on the bottom is painful with the dentures in, keeps me from biting down much). I'm also still dealing with some jaw joint/muscle pain but the 400mg Ibuprofen and 500mg Tylenol seems to be managing that very nicely.

This morning I actually woke up hungry, which is unusual for me under any conditions.


Got a new invention on that front:

For breakfast I put a slice of ham, slice of provolone, slice of bread and 2 eggs in the food processor and blended it all up nicely. Seasoned with onion and garlic powder and cooked in a skillet just like scrambled eggs.

It's my version of a ham, cheese, and egg breakfast sandwich. It could use a little more cheese, I think.

I ate this sans-teeth, since I'm still more comfortable that way. Besides, I don't have to brush them if I don't use them.


I think I may just be on the downhill side of this whole thing. Got an appointment for another fitting Friday, and I'm almost looking forward to it.
 
Quick addition:

I tackled with an Arby's sandwich and fries today. The fries were pretty challenging, but I was able to mash them a little bit (not too much). Combined with saliva this softened them enough to eat, but I got tired pretty quickly.

I ate the meat out of the sandwich and even tried biting through the whole thing, but only succeeded in cutting 3/4ths of the way through one bun. Still too sore in front to bite down much, and I didn't have any adhesive in so I didn't have all that stable a platform anyway.

I also discovered exactly why denture wearers hate sesame seeds so much. Good lord those things are evil.


There's some weird muscles involved in this process, which I apparently have never used before. My mouth feels like I've been chewing a piece of rubber for 3 days non-stop. I think I'll wear the dentures tomorrow for awhile just to make sure I've got sufficiently angry-looking sores to help the dentist at my fitting on Friday, but I don't think I'll be eating with them for a little while. I'm going to rest up from the last couple days' workout.
 
I love Arby's...I coulden't really eat normally for about a month after my denture...but now I am eating corn on the cob and biting through cheese-burgers with no problems.
Yes those sesme seeds are brutal:o.
Hope you don't mind the comments in your journal...I just really enjoy reading it and I wanted to say how well I think your doing.
Good luck on your fitting for friday.
Keep up the good work.:XXLhug:
 
You're welcome to comment of course. I'm writing this for everyone, not just myself, so I don't mind at all when people give me some indication they're reading.

Today we've got to get some work done on my wife's car, and both the car place and her job are on the other side of town, so we're both going in both vehicles and then I'm going to use a nearby hotspot to do some work while waiting for the car to get done. Then I can take care of the bill while she's at work, go back to the hotspot, and then give her a ride to the car when she gets done.

The downside is that means I'll be wearing the dentures for 12 straight hours today with little opportunity for reprieve.

I'll make it. I-think-I-can-I-think-I-can-I-think-I-can-I-think-I-can...
 
Well the car got done early and the place we had the work done was closer to my wife's job than I remembered, so I just walked there, paid, drove the car back and then took the truck home. On the way home I got some boat carpet to cover up the rust spots in the bed (and make it easier to haul stuff without it getting scuffed - the stuff, not the truck. This is a workin' truck, not a pretty truck.

So I was able to take the dentures out early, but I still wore 'em for about 7 hours. Next fitting is tomorrow morning so I'll have an update then about how that goes. Still a few problem spots to clear up, but they're getting better all the time.
 
Well it's been a few days since my last update, so let's do a little catch-up.

Friday I had another fitting. The dentist annoyed me a bit by being in a hurry and not doing a better job keeping that hidden. I wanted to tell him that he could go take care of whatever impatient patient it was that the tech kept coming in to remind him about if it meant he'd come back and give me his full attention, but I try not to be an ass when it isn't absolutely necessary.

The dentures do feel a bit better now and at this point I'm starting to realize that there is not a lot that can be done to really make them fit well. The objective is to make them tolerable during the healing process, and once the bulk of that is done a reline can be done that will actually (allegedly) make them reasonably comfortable.

I had another little bit of bone come out tonight, an especially annoying one that was just off to the side of center in the top. I'd been scratching my upper lip with it for days. I noticed it had become loose tonight so I carefully gripped it with some clean tweezers and tested how well it was attached. Little bit of pain, but it came out before I really even tried to pull on it, and there was no blood. I've got a similar one that looks like a tiny fang on the bottom, but it's not ready to come out yet.

Far back on the right, just inside of the top of the gums (so it's on the tongue side just far enough down not to be on the "top") where the very back edge of the lower denture touches I've got a spot that, as near as I can tell, the underlying bone is revealed. Either that or I've got a flat plate of unattached bone working its way out. Whatever the case that thing hurts like hell if I mess with it at all - hurts all the way through the jaw, up through the joint, and into the ear. Hate that. Hate it a lot.

I carefully probed it with a little metal dental tool I have and it's either bone or something as hard as that. I want that thing gone.


Beyond that, the dentures are actually getting slowly more functional. I ate some pizza the other day, by cutting it into small pieces with a fork and chewing it carefully. (Not a crispy crust, and the green peppers were too stiff for me to chew so I had to pick them off.) It's kind of frustrating to have a garden that's just starting to really put out some nice fresh veggies and not be able to eat most of them.

I really want those carrots... that's gonna take awhile though.
 
Great Journal Spektyr, im new here,32 year old male ( 32 on august 27th) From south carolina (bible belt), I got a second part time job with UPS and My Benefits just started. I am able to get my dental work started, I have a similar situtaion as you. I am going for full upper denture, (my front 6 bottom teeth are in good health, but rest or awful, so maybe a partial bottom) All my upper teeth are in bad shape..Any ways Thanks for this Journal.:hidesbehindsofa:
 
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Glad to help out.

Based on my experience so far I'd definitely recommend partials over full dentures if you can afford them (it's usually quite a bit more expensive since if you need partials you probably need a fair amount of work on your remaining teeth to make sure they'll stay strong for you).

Of course everything varies from one person to the next, but most of the time full dentures are cheaper. It was the best choice in my case, but if partials had been an option that would've been a better choice. In my case the few teeth that could've been saved would have cost a huge amount of money just to save, and then I'd have ended up losing them before long anyway.


If there's anywhere to try to save teeth, it's the lowers.

Oh, and start saving up for implants right away. You'll definitely want to get some and the sooner you can the better.
 
Update:

Let's see, what's new...

My gums are healing up pretty well, I'm not terribly sensitive in the front anymore. By that I mean I don't have to be careful with my lips or tongue or anything - it's still not happy to take any real pressure, but things are getting better.

I'll definitely be happy when the extraction sites are clearly closed so I can relax a bit about worrying about infections. As they are stuff will sometimes get stuck down in them and I have to carefully get it out or the sockets will start to ache.

Plus, I'll feel better about using fixatives once the sockets are sealed, since it won't be much trouble to get the gunk out.


Got some lasagna at an Italian place last night. My wife was hosting some kind of girly shampoo-make up-pedicure kind of party (some lady selling all that kind of stuff came over, did all kinds of pampery beauty stuff for her and a bunch of girls where my wife works) and, being the hopelessly heterosexual that I am, I did not feel compelled to hang out and talk about foot scrubs or whatever.

So I took my mom out for movie and a dinner (we did it backwards). The lasagna was good, and not too much trouble to eat, but I still get tired of trying to chew with the dentures pretty quickly so I didn't eat all that much. It was a gigantic portion, so I got a to-go box and brought it home. It'll make a couple more meals at least.
 
Oh, something else I just thought of:

I mentioned a little bit ago that I ate some pizza using my teeth. Later I grabbed a few pieces out of the fridge, tore the crusts off, and dumped them in the food processor. The end product looked like something halfway between cooked hamburger and fried rice, and tastes exactly like pizza.

It reheats very nicely (even twice) and tastes precisely as it should. So just in case anyone wondered, you can definitely grind up a slice of pizza and eat it that way. It's just as delicious as it is unground.
 
Forgot something else - I finally remembered to weigh myself today...

I'm not 100% sure how much I weighed before all the work started, but I'm about 20lbs lighter than I was last time I checked. I don't diet (because I don't need or want to), so I doubt I'd lost much beforehand.

I haven't been this light since before I got married. Without getting into specific numbers too much, I can gain about 40lbs from where I am and not be pushing the "you might want to lose a few" barrier.

On that note, I'm going to find something to eat.
 
Just wanted to say That I am still loving your journal and I am making that broccli cheese soup this weekend.
I lost about 15 pounds during my denture journy and as soon as I was able to eat ....I gained it all back:rolleyes:but it's cool because I am enjoying food that I haven't been able to eat for 12 years:cloud9:
Your doing great...keep up the good work:thumbsup:
 
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