the "selfish" benefits to fixing teeth

[archaeodani2]

.. As I was making my (extremely unhealthy, but oooohhh so satisfying) lunch today.. I came to a realization = I'm eating

But = and this is important = Im eating things that up to 3 weeks ago, I'd not eaten in YEARS - not since my teeth first began their journey to extraction, and I stayed stuck in the fear-boat tied to them...

sooo.. I was thinking, let's review some of the completely selfish, selfcentered and wonderfully sinful results of leaping the fear hurdle, and coming away with healthy, repaired teeth.

*I can now eat the following::
* apples. Without cutting them up into littler chunks, then ""mushing""; them to swallow them - I can actually CHEW them
*corn on the cob
*other crunchy fruits and veggies
*steak
*crunchy candy (no longer limited to straight smooth chocolate = I can have peanut MM's now)
(working on the courage for this one - I'm still healing) *cashews, my all-time favorite nut
..

Seeing as this is about 2 months before Christmas, and I should be allllll healed up by then I will be able to eat all sorts of nasty, sticky, hot, cold, sweet, chewy, crunchy Christmas goodies.. I am SOOO looking forward to that.

Now for the OTHER benefits (the not sinfully delicious ones )
*sleeping - I don't wake in pain
*brushing - no more pain
*bad breath is gone (ok, I suppose this is self-centered, but hey,)

Everyone that is afraid, seriously think about the above list = add to it your own "accomplishments' / "benefits" to having your teeth fixed by your own patient, gentle and accommodating dental staff.

Trust me, If *I* of all people can do it = YOU can

 

[mikey]

yaya that sound lovely!

 

[takingflight]

Hmmm, nothing like a list of good food to get me to post!    I agree it's nice to remind ourselves of the benefits of having our teeth fixed.  I forgot how nice it was to eat on both sides of my mouth and to not have to pop Advil like it's candy every couple of days!!  I will admit that I gave up all the things that could pull out a filling....but that's a small price to pay to keep everything intact for as long as possible!!  

Glad that you are healing well and enjoying all those goodies again!!  (I'll second the vote on cashews!!  Yummy!!)


Pam

 

[scaredstiff]

Yes, I agree, it's so wonderful not to have to think, "Can I eat this" sort of thing. For absolutely years because I knew I had one big hole in an upper back tooth, I always ate to one side only. Now however my natural way of eating is to chew on that side, rather than the other side which I got used to for so long. In fact, when I try to eat on the side I used for so many years,I find I can't. Odd that is. Also, although it was only about three months from the time I lost a front tooth till the time I had my new teeth, not long at all really, I now really appreciate being able to eat soya nuts without problem. For those of you who don't know that particular nut (and I'm talking here about the actual nut - not myself - they are very, very small, and they used to lodge themselves in the gap between the teeth. Now I can eat without problem.
Yes, definitely, having good teeth not only of course is so important healthwise, but you can really enjoy food so much more - no limitations at all and I personally now find I don't waste all the time I used to previously with using toothpicks!

 

[vict4ia]

Oh! Great thread!

I think all of those foods sound great! I can't wait for my gums to heal up so that I can have some nice, gooey, sticky toffee.

One other "selfish" benefit to having your teeth fixed is the ability to SMILE! I'm not talking about that shy, hand-over-the-mouth smile that many of us have gotten used to. I'm talking about a big, obnoxious, devil-may-care, toothy grin. Yup...smiling and laughing without being self conscious - that's the one that I'm beginning to enjoy.

I guess that's the one plus side to this whole dental phobia thing: Look at the pleasure we're taking in such simple things that most people just take for granted.

I remember when my nephew first learned to walk. For the first few days he walked everywhere with his hands extended over his head. I assume it was for balance but it looked like a victory cheer for his new found abilities. The other day, when I was talking with my husband, that's how I described the feeling I have. I'm discovering what it's like to have a healthy mouth and I just want to walk around with my arms raised in a victory cheer.

 

[archaeodani2]

HALLOWEEEEN CANDY  HEHEHEEEEE

 

[archaeodani2]

comfort food

mac & cheese (that doesn't stick in the holes in your teeth)
apple and pumpkin pies (Thanksgiving was just a couple weeks ago here in the US - I scarfed) :-D

crispy chicken
steak

the benefits of getting your teeth/mouth healthy

 

[harper]

to be able to eat on both sides of your mouth
to be able to enjoy toffee pennies out of the quality street at christmas

 

[scaredstiff]

Yes, Harper, eating both sides of your mouth is wonderful. I can do that now. Trouble is I find I'm eating for two (two sides), shovelling in twice as much food as I used to, eating in half the time and therefore having time for even more, especially in the case of things like crisps and chocs with the result I'll probably soon be twice as big as I was.

 

[archaeodani2]

Yes, Harper, eating both sides of your mouth is wonderful. I can do that now. Trouble is I find I'm eating for two (two sides), shovelling in twice as much food as I used to, eating in half the time and therefore having time for even more, especially in the case of things like crisps and chocs with the result I'll probably soon be twice as big as I was.

*ROTFLMAO*

ANOTHER NEW ONE =
Kentucky Bourbon Fudge with Pecan Pieces
YYUUUUUMMMEEEEE

 

[archaeodani2]

update time

girl scout cookies (I bought like 10 -15 boxes of the things
baby carrots, straight from the bag

....

more to come, I'm sure

 

[Mary]

Oh my gosch.......I will be able to eat steak.I havent had steak in allmost 5 years.That is my favorite food.I also love the idea of not waking up in pain...or eating everything with a fork cause I can't bite like normal people.I am scarde but tulely looking forward to so many things.

Like eating icecream with my kids(not taking a bite and be in pain for a month after.

THanks I needed that

 

[Charity]

I had a bit of an "aha!" moment myself while eating chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream a day or two ago... I realized that I was just shoveling it right in and savoring the yumminess of it all, and not worrying about which side of my mouth I was using or if I was allowing each bite to stay in contact with my teeth for too long. I USED to have to be constantly vigilant about these things if I wanted to eat sweet stuff with a minimum of pain-- and it would still hurt some spots no matter what I did. Now I can just eat, and concentrate on what I'm eating and how it tastes, instead of how I'm eating it. Freedom is sweet, lol!
It's still hard for me to grasp the idea that there aren't any more gaping holes back there. I feel my teeth with my tongue, and I feel only teeth! Okay, a lot of it is actually composite or porcelain, but it sure FEELS like teeth. Was it really only a few months ago that I was content to just sit and let it hurt?? Wow... Now I know I'll never let anything dental get away from me like that. It's twice a year forever for me now-- I'm through with tooth pain!!!

 

[scaredstiff]

Those aha moments, and you will have plenty of them, are so wonderful, aren't they? I had a very badly decayed tooth one side of my mouth, more hole than tooth and for years had to be very careful when eating, always very gingerly one side of mouth only so when I got my teeth fixed (okay so they're dentures, but they're my own dentures) it was so marvellous to be able to shovel things into my mouth - both sides - and just eat, chew and really savour the food and of course, being able to chew properly it's probably so much healthier instead of swallowing great big lumps of food as I used to. We surely don't appreciate how important our teeth are to us until we come here, get the strength to get them fixed and then are able to use them as they were meant to be used. Viva la chocolate and the icecream.

 

[Snowball]

I read this thread before I had my work done, and now it's done I can add my bit so resurrecting this - hope no-one minds!

Smiling. Properly. I'd forgot that. Almost never done it cos I've had issues all my adult life with this.

Getting closer to people. Went away this weekend to an event with lots of friends old and new - I was beginning to be a recluse, so self conscious. Didn't want to open my mouth in case people saw that train wreck of a tooth at the back and then when a lower front one fractured.... Always thought it must be so offensive too, so even with friends I'd never get too close - kept everyone at arm's length. Now I'm hugging people and have forgotten all about keeping my distance already! What a prize that one is!

That close to people thing even included my kids. Didn't want to be breathing bad breath in their faces - you know how honest kids can be! And if one of them had confronted me, asking why I never went to the dentist when them and their dad all do.... I was in too much denial for that!

Foodwise, oddly I have always been a chocoholic but have gone right off sweet things. I feel like I want to keep my teeth like they are now! Just don't fancy that stuff at the moment! Hopefully there may be a little bit of weight loss as a result - now that would be a bonus as I put on a stone and a half in the past year, since my dad died, comfort eating!

Oh and another benefit - no more dreams about crumbling teeth!

Anyone got any more of these?

 

[Mary]

The thing for me is really being able to smile at people....never did that before.People allways thought I was a snob or something because they would smile at me and well...I diden't
I have only had the denture a short while...but I am smileing at anyone that will look.

Another cool thing is that last night....I ate a piece of pizza without a forkI never thought that would happen.
There are so many reasons to have your teeth fixed....but the main one is a healthy mouth....all the rest of the things are just a bonus

 

[colgate smile]

i dont know about selfish, but this would deffo come under the morbid category.

i used to have a nightmare vision of being killed in such a way that my body was beyond recognition. normally the mortuary would turn to dental records in such an event to identify a corpse, so that the family could have the closure of a burial. for me, there would have been no dental records, and so no closure. what a horrible thought.

now, i have dental records... and im praying to god that they never have to be used to identify my body

 

[macfoo]

Ayup - morbid is right ... but oddly enough a valid fear, no?

Aha moment for me this past week -
FAJITAS!!!!

Well now that my bottom jaw was just done, I'm back to sipping on water (that has to be room temp. because of the sensitivity), and having a hardy dinner of keylime yoplait and a strawberry jello

Ya me!

I am so looking forward to steak it isn't funny. I've been avoiding it for about the last two years or so because of the challenge of getting it stuck between my teeth and my fear/pain of flossing to get it out.