desperatly wanting to eat again, help

[lisa91374]

I am new to this site, I am 35 years old and just had 22 teeth extracted and a full upper and partial lower placed last friday afternoon. At first i felt very sad, crying all day everyday, not so much from the pain but mostly from the mental and physical aspect of it all. I love the way my teeth look now , just hate taking them out at night while in bed with my hubby. i also can not wait to eat again!!!!! i only weigh 100 pounds at 5 feet so loosing weight is not a option. so sick of soup and mashed potatoes. will i ever really eat again. please help. i do hope for some light at the end of this darkness

 

[bumpthumper]

Lisa,

I'm sure you will eat again! I have a top immediate denture now, and will be getting a bottom partial in just a few more weeks. when I had my extractions done, it was 9 on top and 2 on the bottom (on the same side-both molars). Try something like potato salad (no celery or onion), baked beans, or I found after my first week I could do an egg salad sandwich - but the bread will want to stick to your top denture, so be prepared to scape it with your finger, but oh my - it was soooooooo good!!

If you find that eating with both top AND bottom in place is just too difficult, try taking the bottom out. Even with the extractions I had on the bottom, I could still eat the above mentioned foods with my denture in and no molars on the bottom at all.

Good luck - let us know how you make out!!

 

[lisa91374]

thank you for the quick response, it has been two more days since i have been on the site and 1 week and 2 days since i had my teeth extracted and denture placed still not eating well, trying to have hope but it is not easy. how long does it normaly take before eating normal foods?

 

[bumpthumper]

Well, I'm sure that everyone's experiences are a little different, as we all deal with a different number of extractions and different healing rates. I healed rather quickly, lived on ibuprofen for the first two weeks, and was eating "normal" food in roughly two weeks.

By normal I mean something other than soups and mashed foods, but I also only had the immediate full upper. Though I had two extractions done on the bottom, both molars from the left hand side, which is my chewing side. I kinda forced myself to eat slightly harder foods - sandwiches, spaghetti, macaroni - because I had to go back to work. I eat fast food lunches, so I started with kid size cheeseburgers from McDonalds.

It's been about 10 weeks since my extractions, and while I still can't eat steak (no lower molars at all!!), I can do chicken nuggets, cube steak (like a hamburger steak), hot dogs, etc.

I'm sure I will go through all this over again when I get my bottom partial towards the end of May-beginning of June. Not as bad as having it all done at once, but I'll be on here looking for support and advice then too!

 

[jade66]

i hear you ...it was 2 weeks Tues that i had 5 pulled and full upper denture and partial lower done now i have to get full denture lowers in July>>>>hate to even think of going through this again!!! i just started with white bread i love Italian bread but cannot eat it..small spagetti, meatballs, i still have to cut everything up and take small bites..i feel like a 2 yr old and i am 66!!!! my upper still loses suction if i eat too fast or try talk while eating..i already had a reline..then got mouth sores allover again....ihear denture paste and powders are really messey and hard to get off the denture and your upper roof of the mouth...never thought this would be this sore or hard to adjust to>>>>.but i do love the look of pretty straight white teeth!!!!! but if i lose anymore weight there will be just those teeth walking down the street!!!! also i talk real funny and whistle sss's i soound awful when will this stolp???? a friend told me to drink Ensure..i did and it is not bad i got the chocolate.

 

[bumpthumper]

Hey Jade -

@ teeth walking down the street - I am now picturing a set of those chattering teeth on legs, taking a stroll down the block!! LOL

When I was at the dentist a week ago, she told me she was glad we did mine in two stages (upper full first, then lower partial) she told me that she did uppers and lowers at the same time for another patient, and he was having a very difficult time with it. So, I think I'm glad I waited too - though mine wasn't truly a choice, more of a necessity, due the issues I had with my two front bottom teeth. AND - I just found out today that my insurance IS NOT going to cover my bottom partial. I've already paid a little over $400.00, so I'll have to come up with the other $500.00 and some odd on my own. What a bummer!! I'm gonna see if she'll let me pay $200.00 at each of my next 3 visits to cover it. I'm hoping that as long as I have it paid by the time the denture is complete, we can continue with the try ins and having them made.

As for eating, this is going to sound terrible but I never did have the patience for cutting my food into small bites. When I had to do that with chicken nuggets, I just didn't eat them until I could bite them in half and chew. So I went about 8 or 9 weeks without!! But then again, I have one tooth that is good for tearing food (I wouldn't exactly call it biting!), and that seems to get me by for now-I know once I do get the bottom partial though it's gonna be tough, because my "tearing tooth" will have a wire over it to support the partial, so I don't know if I'll still be able to tear with it, without dislodging the partial - - - oh, the things we think about now, huh??!?!

And talking hasn't been bad for me, yet. The dentist said that I'd probably have more trouble speaking with the bottom, because it's going to have a lot of metal on the inside of my front gum. So, I can't answer that question, sorry. I don't imagine it will last too long, the more comfortable you get with the dentures, the easier everything will come.

Sorry I haven't been able to be too helpful tonight -

 

[chrissie266]

This is the reason my dentist wants to do mine in 3 stages, sides, then front and then I will get my dentures. I had one side done last Tuesday and am still finding it hard to eat so I'm now glad I let him do it his way. I did manage a packet of french fries (crisps) last night but they took me an hour to eat!

It is doing wonders for my weight though, I have lost 4lb this week already.

I also have a few questions for the more experienced among us:

When is it "safe" to eat on the side where the extractions are?
Can I eat rice or will it just cause problems?
How long do the gums take to heal over?

Thanks, I guess we all just need to have a little more patience and tbh I am finding the "after" harder to deal with than I thought it would be. I was so focused on being scared of the teeth coming out that I hadn't really thought about afterwards.

 

[Dontaki]

I am new to this site, I am 35 years old and just had 22 teeth extracted and a full upper and partial lower placed last friday afternoon.

officially you are my hero.... wow.... 22 teeth... you must be joking me!!!

In my book you are already a Huge winner, hang in there, I am certainly soon you will be back to normal. Medical science does wonders nowdays.

 

[Dontaki]

When is it "safe" to eat on the side where the extractions are?
Can I eat rice or will it just cause problems?
How long do the gums take to heal over?

If you have an open hole and no stichies I think its a good idea to avoid rice. Generally even if I have no holes, as I have stichies , I prefer to swallow my food than chew it since I am still in the 4th day. Trying to play as safe as possible.

Well the heal takes usually 1 week, but it depends from person to person.

Officially it takes several months for a complete heal, but generally in 1 -2 weeks you should return to eating normally.