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Preparing for full extractions, implants, dentures (LONG!)

So it's been about a week since the extractions, and pretty much ho hum.

Discomfort is minimal, although last night/early this morning, the remaining teeth must have gotten in a mood to move because holy cow it was really awkward. Still not exactly pain, just the kind of dull pressure of feeling the teeth moving. Honestly can't wait to have the last of them taken out (to be done with them and moving on with the implants/temp dentures). It isn't even pain at the extraction sites either, it's only at the remaining natural teeth.

Ran out of the hydrocodone/acetaminophen pills, but still have a nearly full (or about 3/4 full) bottle of the 600mg Ibuprofen; haven't really needed those for pain/discomfort though, just been taking them here and there to help take care of the last bit of swelling.
I do have some semi-old Codeine pills left over from a prescription earlier in the year (around april), from when I had an abscess & still had all my teeth, but I'm reluctant to take them; most of what I find online about "expired" codeine is that it just loses potency, though most of them are talking about pills that are a year+ past their date, so we'll see. Maybe if I end up desperately in pain I'll take'em, if I can't get fresh ones to have around from the doc.

Food-wise, I had a box of mac & cheese a couple of days ago, but I'm not really adept at smushing it against the roof of my mouth (also didn't help I'm used to al dente, even if it did seem to smush well enough between my fingers, it was kind of tough to smush in my mouth). Ended up swallowing most of it whole or using front teeth to kind of "chop" it up a bit. Actually made the box last for two "sessions" because it's not like I can load up the spoon/fork and shovel it in either - kind of gives you perspective that the "serving sizes" they say are kind of accurate when you're not just wolfing it down.



Tomorrow, Thursday, I have an appointment at the dental surgeon's - which I'm not really worried about. I think it's only going to be a generic checkup anyway, unless he feels really antsy about pulling the rest of the teeth far ahead of the schedule he described to me, or some other thing pops up.
 
Just got back from the checkup, and it's exactly what it sounded like it was, a checkup. Everything so far is healing pretty good. I was informed that my top molars connected to my sinus, so with them gone I had holes to my sinuses which have sutures - those are coming out next week. The doc renewed a prescription for (more) antibiotics & an antibiotic mouthwash.

Also got 2 other appointments in the moderately distant future; one in August to get impressions taken so the guy doing the temporary (and permanent) dentures can have them good to go, and then in September to get the last extractions done.
 
Coming up on yet another appointment, this one to get the (non-dissolving) stitches taken out; the ones for my "sinus holes". I've had at least a couple of the dissolve-aways actually fall out. It's much less of a "they fully dissolve" thing as much as one bit of them gives way and the remaining bit of it just kind of dangles around in your mouth feeling like a giant hair until it works it's way loose.
 
yet another appointment down, just a few more to go before I've got my implants in, I keep telling myself.

Today the stitches from the first round of extractions came out. Particularly, because of the openings to my sinuses, they couldn't use the dissolve-away stitches in some parts, but in others they could. So there I sat in the chair while they tugged and snipped and tugged and pinched their way through a mess of stitches. Apparently it wasn't just a few stitches on each side, I counted at least 12 strands of threaded-stuff on the platter when I was done (if not more like 16). If you've ever had the feeling of someone drawing a string through your flesh, but not painfully so, that kind of describes it; any pain I had today was more toward them tugging the stitches before snipping them & pulling them out. The whole tugging aspect was more jarring than everything else they did.

I did have one big question for the doc, which was that I had what looked like white ridges in my mouth, where I would have expected bone to be, I'd noticed them a little more each day now, and by today, had pretty well worked myself into a nervous wreck over having exposed bone in my mouth. But that wasn't the case - apparently when your gums are healing (or healing over) they look white, who knew! It was a pretty big sigh of relief.
 
Hi,
I would just like to wish you every success in your implant journey,I have had experience of the implant supported dentures but unfortunately after years of smoking etc,my bone had receeded and didn't have enough bone to support the implants,I did have some artificial bone placed prior to the implants,and I had to have temporary dentures and wait 6 months for the bone to integrate with my own bone before the implants could be placed,but this obviously did not work and the artifical bone did not integrate with my own bone,and resulted in failed implants after only 2 years.

I have since gone on to a new technique called zygomatic implants, and so far so good absolutely brilliant,if you want to you can read my journal.
It is under the heading of.....My experience of zygomatic implants.
I am sure things will work out fine for you,but in the worst case sinario,do not despair there is always alternatives.
Good luck.
Coral.
 
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Early AM update;

Nothing really new or exciting going on - just thought I'd post here. Still going along the motions of missing all my back teeth, and really aching for something like a cheeseburger. I knew I'd want some good old (american...) junk food, but it's like a craving you can't satisfy unless you bastardize it in a blender (and a cheeseburger in a blender doesn't exactly sound appetizing).

I had posted in another topic somewhere about food, and how the sensation I miss the most about it is biting into and chewing something. It's like all food is now is this slurp-able goop that you just inhale, it has no real defining texture to it. *REALLY* can't wait to get healed up with the final dentures to actually eat something, savor it.

I'm virtually pain free now - every now and then I get a brief pang shooting out from one of my currently remaining teeth, but nothing that I hadn't encountered before. I haven't had a "tooth/mouth" related headache at all, which is in and of itself amazing considering it'd be at least 1 if not 2 nights a week I'd have a splitting headache and popping aspirin like candy.

Healing so far looks good as far as I can tell. The tender soreness where the sinus stitches were is slowly going away - roughly where the back-most molars were. Before it was kind of hard to smile or grin without feeling the tenderness. Every day I'm getting more and more used to the feeling of not having teeth there.

I don't know if it makes much sense, but I've been kind of afraid to really move my tongue around and explore how it feels. Like it's some kind of reminder of the shame in not taking care of them, is the best way I can put it into words.

Anyway, my next appointment is in August, to get impressions taken for the temporary dentures, and then later in August or early September for the final round of extractions. I've been lead to believe the OS wants to also put in the implants that day too and give me the temporaries - that's how the treatment plan was described to me, and barring any complications, that's about how it should go too.
 
This is a great journal. Im waiting to start my implant treatment. Have consultation with Dentist in September, I'm also going through some Ortho work at the moment. My initial consultation was for 4 extractions ( lower front teeth ) and 2 implants placed. Can i ask ? How come your getting a normal denture on your top teeth? Also how was the swelling & talking element ? Im beyond anxious about this treatment & wondering how long il have to take of work , so my face doesn't look swollen & i can talk properly.
 
This is a great journal. Im waiting to start my implant treatment. Have consultation with Dentist in September, I'm also going through some Ortho work at the moment. My initial consultation was for 4 extractions ( lower front teeth ) and 2 implants placed.

Great! Sounds like a bit of work, but it'll be worthit (and worth all the pain/discomfort & healing time)!


Can i ask ? How come your getting a normal denture on your top teeth?

Primarily because it was the 'middle ground' option that didn't cost an arm and a leg. My Oral Surgeon (OS) recommended it mostly because the top denture has a part molded for the roof of your mouth - it has suction to your gums & roof of mouth. Which means it's generally more stable just by itself. The bottom denture doesn't have that same suction - it only really sticks to your gums, because there has to be a space for your tongue, which means it's more likely to slide around and cause more wear.

Someone in this thread had mentioned Zygomatic Implants too, which attach to the cheek bone for your uppers, and can thus bypass any loss of bone that may occur on the top with the current implant techniques. Expensive yes, but it means that implants on the top are something I can get regardless down the road.


Also how was the swelling & talking element ?

Swelling - Day of extractions, I wasn't swollen much if at all. More a mouth full of gauze and was a slobbery numb mess for most of the day after the operation.
Day after, I had started to swell a bit, and it only kept swelling until about day 3.
Day 5 swelling had gone down, but it still looked like I took quite a punch; I had a very small bit of bruising & off-color cheek that I only first noticed about then, but like I just said I didn't even notice it until days later.
A week after, the swelling had pretty much gone away - it wasn't noticeable to others, but I could still feel it.
Swelling was completely gone after about a week and a half.

The weird part is that only my right side really blew up with swelling - my left side was normal (maybe cuz I sleep on my left side? I have no idea!). I probably could have avoided a lot of it if I had used the ibuprofen (anti-inflammatory pills) more in those first few days, and used an icepack more than a couple times.


Talking has taken some getting used to - to me I sound like I'm not exactly nailing the pronunciation, but I'm working on it. The hardest sound for me to make is "CH" (as in Chocolate, Charlie, suCH, muCH). But I imagine depending on where/which teeth anyone has taken out that their speech would change - like if your four front top teeth were taken out, S sounds would be different (maybe even whistley!). It isn't so much that it's taking more effort to speak, just that everything sounds different.

Im beyond anxious about this treatment & wondering how long il have to take of work , so my face doesn't look swollen & i can talk properly.

I'm assuming that, since you say you're also getting Ortho work done, that you're going to be able to keep some of your natural teeth?

Taking off work, depending on you mostly, maybe 2 days off at worst. If you are IV sedated for the extractions, that day *for sure*, and the day after just depending on how good/bad you feel. I don't know what kind of job you've got, but I imagine retail/service jobs that might put you in front of the customer a lot might be awkward (still doable, you'd get a lot of weird looks for sure though). Factory work, you probably would be doing light-duty kinds of work for a week, more for you to run out of the narcotic pain pills really. I would guess managerial/owners might want to hold off on making any big decisions until they had a 100% clear head without any pain meds.
 
Hi again,
Yes ,it was I who posted about the zygomatic implants,I have had both types now,the standard implants that just go into the bone is what I had in the beginning, but like I said with the lack of bone they failed,so had to revert back to the standard dentures,but that was awful,I had to use adhesive constantly to keep them in place,it was so awful and embarrassing too,darent go out to a meal with company, as every time I ate it was a trip to the ladies room to refix the loosened palette.

You are quite right about the standard denture it has a bigger palette and should hold in by suction,but if you haven't got the bone ,this will just not happen,as there is nothing to adhere to, so this results in having to use the dental types of adhesive,this is the main reason I went to see about dental implants to retain my dentures in the first place.

It was when I went to have another denture made,which was becoming a regular practice, that the dental technichan told me about the All on four implants,these are permanently screwed in teeth,done in a day,that didn't need too much bone to be present, but unfortunately the scan revealed that I didn't even have enough bone for these either.
Had I known about the All on four at the time of my implant procedure, I would have definitely gone for those,I would not have had to endure all the anguish and embarrassmentof the ill fitting dentures for all those years,but they were only new out then,so not widely known about,pretty much as zygomatic ones are now.

But he then said,all is not lost you do have an alternative, there are the new ones out now called the zygomatic implants, so he fixed me up with an appointment to see a dental sugeon,and I went to see him,and he explained it all to me ,what was involved and the cost etc, and after a few days of thinking it all over i decided to go ahead,that was done in march,and so far so good,no sticking in my teeth anymore,sheer heaven,I get my new permanently fixed bridge sometime in September, if you have read my journal ,you will know its not at all an easy journey,and it costs an arm and a leg,but so worth it.
But having said that,you seem to be having pain swelling and discomfort from your standard implants.
Got to say,mine was a breeze,2 days of swelling and a bit of soreness, after the bone graft,and then the same again 6 months later when the posts were placed.
I did not have much pain or discomfort at all from the standard implants, so I think that is why I was a bit shocked about the healing time of the zygomatic ones.

I would like to add however that even though my top standard implants failed,I still have 2 remaining at the bottom,I originally had 4 on top and 4 at the bottom,as they failed one by one over a period of 2 years,the two that remain seem pretty solid, and retain my bottom denture just fine,and they have been in now for 8 years,but if they go loose and have to come out,I will definitely go for the All on four teeth,apparently the bottom jaw retains its bone better than the top.

Anyway I wish you all every success in your implant journey, and I hope you will be as pleased with your treatment,as I am with my new teeth.
Kind regards.
Coral
 
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Hi how you feeling now? Any update on your treatment ? Thanks so much for the great reply! Yeah with the ortho stuff il be keeping hopefully the rest of my teeth maybe 2 crowns but time will tell. I just think that it will have to be worth it and not have to worry about my teeth anymore. I work in an office, but I can avoid the phone /public.im thinking a week of anyway maybe to just get over the surgery mentally! Lol that is a little weird about your left side but I guess one less side to worry about :) Ref dentures oh I see yeah that makes a lot of sense. Good that there is a possibility to look at implants in the future if you need them. I think painkillers netflicks and a load of soft food and hopefully il manage with some ice packs.i just want to be as prepared.im looking at another review in sept see if my teeth in right position to do it.so I guess after that will be setting a date!
 
Well, it's been a while, so here's an update!

I go in tomorrow for getting impressions taken of my gums/remaining teeth so the dentist can start making the temporary (and later permanent) dentures. This is the first of two really huge expenses, when they drew up the bill my jaw dropped a bit (it was spot on with the estimate I had, but still, big numbers and all). This is actually the part I'm most nervous about - I remember having impressions taken when I was a teenager for braces & the retainer afterward, and how uncomfortable it was to essentially gag on the whatever-flavored goop in a tray. Except now I'm even more wary of it because I know how fragile my remaining teeth are - the two front teeth have really huge cavities, I'm just really worried they might get sucked right out of my jaw from that alone (or otherwise break off and be immensely painful).

Definitely not looking forward to it, but it needs to get done so the dentures will be ready to go when the rest of my teeth come out.

As far as diet is concerned, I'm still sustaining myself on eggs & pasta's mostly, and some nutrition drink mixes here and there. I've wanted to just go to an Arby's or something so bad, knowing they slice the meat thin enough that, while I probably couldn't bite into a sandwich and be successful in swallowing it, I could still tear apart the sandwich with a knife & fork and just swallow it after breaking it up a bunch. Likewise, I was a big fan of Taco Bell, and I could probably tackle some of their menu items. It's just awkward looking at food in the regard of how easy it's going to be to swallow//with minimal gnashing, rather than what sounds delicious.


@applesock
It would probably do you a world of good to mentally prepare *prior* to the surgery - yeah there's a lot of anxiety and nervousness around dentists & dental issues, but taking a week off is a bit extreme. I know I'd hate to have to waste vacation days without actually going on vacation, instead being relatively miserable.

With the painkillers, a word of advice, they're there to help manage the pain and control it, so you don't feel like your heart is pounding through your gums//extraction sites. You still feel it, pretty much anything they would prescribe in the US isn't going to be strong enough to make the pain completely disappear, you just don't notice it as much (and if you get yourself distracted with a good movie or activity, you'll probably forget the pain all together).
 
Well, it's been a while, so here's an update!

I go in tomorrow for getting impressions taken of my gums/remaining teeth so the dentist can start making the temporary (and later permanent) dentures. This is the first of two really huge expenses, when they drew up the bill my jaw dropped a bit (it was spot on with the estimate I had, but still, big numbers and all). This is actually the part I'm most nervous about - I remember having impressions taken when I was a teenager for braces & the retainer afterward, and how uncomfortable it was to essentially gag on the whatever-flavored goop in a tray. Except now I'm even more wary of it because I know how fragile my remaining teeth are - the two front teeth have really huge cavities, I'm just really worried they might get sucked right out of my jaw from that alone (or otherwise break off and be immensely painful).

Definitely not looking forward to it, but it needs to get done so the dentures will be ready to go when the rest of my teeth come out.

As far as diet is concerned, I'm still sustaining myself on eggs & pasta's mostly, and some nutrition drink mixes here and there. I've wanted to just go to an Arby's or something so bad, knowing they slice the meat thin enough that, while I probably couldn't bite into a sandwich and be successful in swallowing it, I could still tear apart the sandwich with a knife & fork and just swallow it after breaking it up a bunch. Likewise, I was a big fan of Taco Bell, and I could probably tackle some of their menu items. It's just awkward looking at food in the regard of how easy it's going to be to swallow//with minimal gnashing, rather than what sounds delicious.


@applesock
It would probably do you a world of good to mentally prepare *prior* to the surgery - yeah there's a lot of anxiety and nervousness around dentists & dental issues, but taking a week off is a bit extreme. I know I'd hate to have to waste vacation days without actually going on vacation, instead being relatively miserable.

With the painkillers, a word of advice, they're there to help manage the pain and control it, so you don't feel like your heart is pounding through your gums//extraction sites. You still feel it, pretty much anything they would prescribe in the US isn't going to be strong enough to make the pain completely disappear, you just don't notice it as much (and if you get yourself distracted with a good movie or activity, you'll probably forget the pain all together).

Hi, hope all goes well with the impressions, can you keep me updated as I will have the same problem when I go for mine. many thanks
 
So I got back from the impression session, lot more anxiety over it than it was worth. I think the materials they used 20-ish years ago (when I had braces) was different, or the assistant doing it then wasn't as experienced with it, because it was a *LOT* different than I remembered it.

Maybe it's just how I remembered the whole process being unbearably uncomfortable as a kid, or the materials & inexperience of the assistant back then contributed to it feeling like they were suctioning out my teeth when removing it.

This time, everything went fine. The goop when doing the top impressions felt like it was still going to go down the back of my throat. For the top ones, I apparently don't have a great shape for the vestibule (the rear most part of the gums along my top bone ridge). As it was explained to me, the very back should curve upward slightly, and this would give more surface area along the gum line/bone ridge for the denture to stay firm with. At worst all it means is I'm more than likely going to need to use glues/fixodent for keeping the upper denture in place - the doc seemed to be very pleased with my practicality, and assured me that if it does turn out to be too much of a hassle, top implants could still be a thing for me.

The only worry part of it was that my two front teeth are in very poor condition, I was worried that, from my past experience with impressions, that the process might chip or break them, but they were very gentle. I have two giant cavities going almost the length of the front of the two front teeth, so at worst I had a bit of "temperature pains" from the chilly mixture contacting the surface and staying there for a couple minutes, but it wasn't any worse than when I randomly get similar pains from the same teeth.

The bottom impressions, nothing remarkable, just goop that didn't feel like it was being pushed down the back of my throat. My bottom teeth are in (slightly) better condition at least, so it wasn't painful at all to have those impressions taken.


As far as the feeling of impressions on healed gums, though, it was a new feeling, not pleasant or unpleasant, just a new feeling. I haven't really done a whole lot of exploring of my healed extraction sites with my tongue, or allowed much food to slide around over them, they're still a bit tender to really go wild with a brush (I've just been using mouthwash to keep them clean, mostly) - so this whole thing with the impressions was the most tactile sensation my extraction sites have had since those teeth came out.
 
Hi

I think you may be right about the vacation days. But il take a couple. I was at the ortho the other day. I have a date set in sepetember for implant consultation and an extraction date. I've had nightmares since.

Thats great you starting the impressions , once step closer. When do they plan on fitting the impants? Do you have to get many of them ?

Oh i say you bill was a shock !! Il be getting mine on my consultation and a treatment plan.

I also got impressions done on thursday. I was afraid my teeth would get pulled out as they pulled the shields out. But i think from years ago, i find the material they used is more rubber like than cement like which i found was like years ago.
 
Hi

I think you may be right about the vacation days. But il take a couple. I was at the ortho the other day. I have a date set in sepetember for implant consultation and an extraction date. I've had nightmares since.

Thats great you starting the impressions , once step closer. When do they plan on fitting the impants? Do you have to get many of them ?

Oh i say you bill was a shock !! Il be getting mine on my consultation and a treatment plan.

I also got impressions done on thursday. I was afraid my teeth would get pulled out as they pulled the shields out. But i think from years ago, i find the material they used is more rubber like than cement like which i found was like years ago.

Sometime in the middle of September (a little over 3 weeks from now) is when the rest of my teeth come out AND I get the implants, as well as the top denture & bottom denture (fitted onto the implants). There will be 4 implant rods in my bottom jaw, and the bottom denture will be screwed onto those - the only way it's coming out is a trip to the OS (and/or the dentist). As far as cleaning it goes, I'll need to shove a strand of floss between the gums & the implant and whisk it around a bit, and brush the denture itself, but that's really about it.

Which means, I'll be healing up for around 4-6 months with the implants before I get my final dentures, at the latest sometime in March 2015 (though the OS seems pretty steadfast on the 4month thing, I've read all kinds of things that point to between 4-6 months for the bone to fuse with the titanium). So, at least for the big "meal time" holidays, I probably won't have an exactly traditional celebration.
 
As far as cleaning it goes, I'll need to shove a strand of floss between the gums & the implant and whisk it around a bit, and brush the denture itself, but that's really about it.

Hi,
My dentist advised me to get a waterpik cordless waterjet toothbrush,they have an attachment specially for the cleaning of implants.
I got one,and can highly recommend it,its brilliant.
Coral
 
As far as cleaning it goes, I'll need to shove a strand of floss between the gums & the implant and whisk it around a bit, and brush the denture itself, but that's really about it.

Hi,
My dentist advised me to get a waterpik cordless waterjet toothbrush, they have an attachment especially for the cleaning of implants.
I got one, and can highly recommend it it's brilliant.


Regards
Coral
 
Random tiny update;
the last of the extractions, and when i get the implants & dentures is coming up pretty quickly now, Sep. 18. Just a little under 3 weeks to go!
 
So another big day tomorrow - I know I've been busy lately to keep up with posting here, but I figured I'd drop off a line or two.

Tomorrow I get the rest of my extractions, the implants, and the temporary set of dentures to go with them. I can't wait to be done with this, even though I'm going back through recovery as I already had. I am a bit relieved at knowing what to expect of it generally - no where near as on edge as the last round of extractions... more ready to be done with the teeth that have caused me pain for so long!
 
Hey , best of look tomorrow. Good to see your feeling positive about the journey ahead of you. Mine kicks of next thursday :o
 
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