it’s been a while since i’ve made more than a passing entry here. i almost feel apologetic. almost. as you know, life has been busier than usual of late and in utter frankness, i haven’t had a lot of time to sit about thinking. this may well be ‘a good thing’… i can’t really tell.
i’m enjoying life in the moment and the feeling that my life has happenings that are other than disasters. it has been some time since i’ve felt this is the case. i dunno, i don’t spend too much time thinking on ‘how amazing’ it all is (or i may be) because it feels weird to me… this isn’t really ‘amazing’ to me for my ability to bounce or continue… that part of it is just ‘the norm’. on the other hand, it very much feels ‘amazing’ to me insofar as having this many good things happen at once. this, the other reason i don’t talk much of it… a not-so-secret fear that if i do, somehow i’ll ruin it.
but the thing i think i’m proudest of in this moment is that the mention of good or amazing things happening doesn’t make me immediately feel like i have to talk about or point at the things i perceive i’m missing.
i think perhaps that is the most important and amazing thing of all – the real progress.
in other news — the dentist did what will likely be the last adjustment to the dentures for a while. he was astounded to hear that i haven’t had to take any of the pain medication since the extractions on monday. i had to explain to him — the pain of the teeth being in my head was greater than the pain of the soreness of the extractions, so no pain medication is necessary. this was actually relief.
i do not think he really understood i was being serious until that moment. he looked kind of shocked.
it will be a while until i can ‘do’ truly solid foods. i’m having to learn how to eat all over again. you lose about oh… 15 – 25% of your chewing ability when you go into dentures because they don’t operate the same way as your natural teeth. natural teeth and chewing tends to be a ‘grind’ experience, where as dentures are, literally, ‘choppers’.
since the weight distribution of dentures is even across the entire piece, you can’t just go at it right after surgery. also, you have to get used to them shifting slightly. it is an adjustment, but not an unmanageable one.
you may recall me mentioning that i intend to go into implants. for what it’s worth and in case you don’t have this information available to you… when there are no teeth in the jawbone, the body eventually begins to reabsorb the bone (believing it has served its purpose and is no longer needed). the result of this process, if one remains in dentures, is a slow but inevitable ‘collapse’ of the face, as the arch under the nose (above the upper lip) and below the lower lip, forming the chin are reabsorbed… not to mention the sag of the cheeks and muscles on the sides of the face as the upper ridge and jawbone itself are reabsorbed and eventually become brittle.
sounds scary, doesn’t it? not really… the process takes a good ten to fifteen years. i will be going into implants somewhere in the next year or so.
the important thing is that a single implant is enough to keep the message to absorb the bone from going off for bone in about a half inch in either direction. obviously i want to eventually be in a full set of implants, but i likely will start off with strategic implants to hold bridges in place so as to gain the benefit of a stable, rigid bite that will allow for return to that natural ‘grind’ chewing that we all tend to take for granted.
the other thing i’ve learned in my research is that, unlike eating with natural teeth, when you’re eating with dentures, you have to divide the food up and chew it equally with both sides of the mouth. otherwise, things get a little discombobulated and you wind up doing embarrassing things like accidently lobbing food out of your mouth or, conversely, having the yet untrained tongue push it to the back for swallowing well before you’re ready to actually do so.
bet you never thought it could be so involved, did you? heh. well, in truth, neither did i. learning is learning… and i reckon if any of this helps any of you ‘down the road’, i’m happy for it.
anyway… life is good, i am well, work is fine, and the dental adventures are likely going to calm for the next few months.
hope you’re doing well and regardless time, quiet, or distance, know that i think of you, miss you, love you, and want you to never believe otherwise. (hug)