Another Newbie - Me, Me, Me... OMG I'm posting..

[Judi]

Hi all!

This is my first post but I've been reading for a couple days. Tomorrow is my Eday although I haven't got much to "E". LOL I have two upper, 1.5 lower front and roots, etc. in the back. I cracked and/or lost a bunch of teeth when I was hit by a drunk driver when I was 16 (I'm 43 now). My face went through the windshield and I had 1,000 stitches in my face and 6 plastic surgeries since. In the 5 years after my accident, the plastic surgeries which got rid of the scarring. You can hardly tell I even have facial scars. My mouth is a different story. All the settlement insurance $$ I had ($20,000) went to the plastic surgery because insurance deemed it "cosmetic" although without it, I wouldn't have been able to smile at all. So, over the years I've let it go, even the teeth I had because I couldn't afford to get them fixed. Then, I got a great job with good $$, got married, and then had a son that was born with a heart defect requiring 3 open heart surgeries before he turned 3 (he's 6 now). Between that, dh and I taking time off of work and every day bills, I never was able to use any extra $$ on me.

The final straw was my 6 year old told me he loved me and then asked me why I only had 3 teeth. He said you're so beautiful mommy. Ugh. I was telling my mom what he said and she told me to do what I needed to do and she'd pay for it. OMG - I couldn't believe it. My mom is not generous (usually).

I scheduled the first appt. that day. I then went to a consult with her dentist who referred me to oral surgeon. He gave me consult as well. Dentist charged me $3,000 (are they normally $1,500 each?) for the dentures (upper and lower) and then surgery tomorrow will be another $2,000 (just for the extractions). He also gave me $5200 quote for two implants to hold the lowers but I'll be doing that in January - can't afford now.

I'm a glass is half full person. I used to be the social smiley type but now I don't go out with friends or see old friends because I don't like them seeing me like this. I love my son more than anything and I won't volunteer at school because I don't want the kids making fun of him because I look like I do. I don't kiss my husband like I want to because of this as well (and he's 10 years younger and HOT!) LOL

I've already tried on the final denture at the dentist's office last week and started bawling when I smiled and saw myself. Tomorrow, I'll handle the pain and anxiety (scared to DEATH) because I want to be as pretty as my son thinks I am and give him a BIG FAT GRIN... (I also want to mooch my hubby like crazy on our 10th anniversary the end of this month...)

I do have a couple questions. Is the soreness, inability to chew much at first, a cause of the gum pain from the extractions? If I have hardly anything in the back to remove, will it be less painful? Also, neither my dentist or the oral surgeon told me how they stay in? Do I have to go and buy some adhesive before I go to dentist tomorrow?

Oh, one more question, my 6 year old is bound to notice and I don't knwo what to tell them. He's at that age where if I tell him they're fake, he'll tell his friend "look, mom got fake teeth." LOL Any ideas what to tell him before he's old enough to understand and not blab to the lady in the checkout line at the grocery store. :-)

Judi

[spoiltrottengal]

Hi Judi,

Geez with what u have been threw earlier in ur life, this denture journey will b a piece a cake.

Everyone has different issues after eday, I didnt have much pain but couldnt eat with them in for the first 3 weeks. (I got a lemon set lol) One thing I can suggest u get before extractions is liquid pain killer. My partner went to the chemist after my eday and asked for something cause I couldnt swallow pills, I had scripts for codine pain killer tablets so they just gave me a kids codine liquid. That stuff was a life saver, it made me sleepy so just took it before bed and was out like a light.

Grab some of those liquid breakfast drinks or protein drinks to keep ya going if ya have trouble chewing at first.

Good luck
Jen

[Julie]

I can't say more - you will find that this is a small inconvenience compared to what you've already been through! I would suggest telling your son that mommy got her teeth "fixed". After he gets used to it, it won't even be an issue. I only had 4 extractions (only the top) and I believe it was easier because all the others were healed and the gums were toughened up already. It may be the same for you.

[Julie]

Hi, Judi. I'm in my 20's and I have a full set. I didn't have the thousands of dollars to spend on the root canals that would have saved my teeth, so I went ahead and had them all pulled last December. I'm SO glad I had it done! No more toothaches or dental worries, plus I think my overall health has improved. I've gotten used to taking my teeth out at night. It actually feels good to curl up in front of the TV after work with a dish of ice cream and my teeth out--kind of therapuetic after a hard day! It can make your bedroom adventures *ahem* a lot more fun, too! Don't worry. Give yourself a few months and you will be glad you did it!

Julie

[bridget jones]

After everything you've been through, you sound like a very strong woman. Since, you are not having many extractions, i don't think you will have much pain. I had the last 4 on top removed and they were under a fixed bridge and all i took was tylenol and it worked well for me. Don't look back about the what if's-----I had all of my upper teeth root canaled and crowned and that lasted about 10 years. So, it wasn't forever. Your new teeth will be wonderful for you and you certainly deserve it!!
The eating part is still a little difficult for me and my e-day was June 30th but it's getting better all the time.
I wouldn't worry about any fixodent in the beginning. I used some only after the stitiches were removed 2 days ago and my dentist appied it. Then I used it again today because I had 2 meetings to go to. They are really in there tight. Think I might have used too much. Should be an adventure getting them out tonight. Think of all the things we can look back on and laugh about!! I'm finally getting to that stage.
Wish you well for tomorrow. Let us know how you are doing. Everything will go fine!!

[Lori Leverton]

I had mine done April 28 , but I went to a One Day place and paid 125.00 for mine. My sister in law went to my regular dentist 2 weeks ago and paid about 3000 for hers. my dentist told me mine are just as good as the sets he gets, but his are sent away to a lab and mine are made on the premises. I believe they look no different than hers. As for the kids, I have 6 grandchildren under the age of 7 and they think it's great. They told me to get some vampire teeth and I've caught the 3 year old trying to take her own teeth out to be like me. I'm 44 and have a 12 year old at home and he ribs me all the time. On the way to the dentist he kept saying bye bye teeth to me. I never had any pain and had mine out in 3 stages between 4 and 6 at a time. I wouldn't do it that way again, because the extractions when I got the denture were the best, Except for the blood oozing over the top , I felt great. I just slowly added food as I thought I could , and if I couldn't eat something one day I kept trying until I could. At 2 months I can eat everything. I'm getting a new set at 3 months because I was told they will be smaller and thinner . Good Luck, I am sure you will do fine.