My journey with denture placement is three and a half weeks into the making. The struggle has been real, with several setbacks along the way. But I am to say today was one of my better days and that’s a good thing.
After experiencing a lot of looseness with my new dentures yesterday, I decided to use adhesive today. The dentures had come with two trial sizes of Poli-Grip, so I figured that would be safe to use. I applied the adhesive to the dentures per the instructions on the box and experienced one of my better days today.
I have realized that I need to eat foods during the day instead of waiting for one meal. For breakfast, I went to the local cafe’ and had two scrambled eggs with cheese and spiced apples. It was by far the easiest time I had eating since I got my dentures. I counted it as a victory in this journey.
For supper tonight, I had a bowl of Irish potato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. I attempted to eat the sandwich without first dunking it into the soup and had fairly good success. I have still found that the crust is a bit hard to chew. With some of the sandwich, I dunked it into the soup and ate it that way. Once again, there was much-reduced slippage like I had experienced in the past.
One of the things I’ve taken note of in my journey is that I really miss eating foods that are my favorites. I yearn for the days I was able to eat a livermush sandwich, a juicy hamburger, or a hot dog. As I continue to get more experience, I’m hoping the day will come when I’m able to eat those once again.
I have been planning a strategy for trying those delicacies for the first time, namely getting them to go and eating them here at home. I know it will be a slow process and can say I would be self-conscious trying to do so in public. So perhaps one day next week, I’ll drop by the grill and order one of those to try here at home.
My second strategy will go to a local buffet and sample foods. The main advantage with this strategy is that there are many more types of food to try and if I find something to difficult to chew on, there’s no big loss. I think I’d be a lot less conscious of eating at public here, since there are many more people at one time in the restaurant.
I have to admit the most difficult part of my denture adventure has been the psychological part. Having all your teeth removed is traumatic enough and then of course, learning how to eat all over again. The setback earlier in the week and a second oral surgery was another big blow. Hopefully things will continue to heal and I’ll be able to eat more freely as time progresses.
David Lee 