Never would I ever have thought a McDonalds plain cheeseburger could taste so good. It had been nearly a month since I’d had anything close to what I’d call “normal” food. I decided on a whim to stop by McDonalds and get two regular cheeseburgers. It was by far the best thing I’ve had to eat since getting my new set of dentures.
Getting back to being able to eat what I call “normal” food has been a major goal of mine since getting my dentures 3 1/2 weeks ago. My daughter had made lasagna for me on Christmas day, but I really didn’t feel confident enough to eat a whole lot of it. There had been plenty of jello, pudding, yogurt, and ice cream over the past several weeks, but I was really wanting a juicy burger.
I had watched a video on YouTube of someone showing how to eat a burger. You are indeed learning how to eat all over again. Lo and behold, his upper set of dentures fell out on his second bite. This convinced me that when I tried to eat something more substantial, I needed to do it in the privacy of my home. So this past Friday night was indeed that night.
I took the first burger out and cut it in half and then fourths. I ate the first fourth and did pretty well. And before you know I had finished half the burger, then the whole burger. I’m not going to lie; things don’t have quite the taste they did when I had my natural teeth. The upper denture is covering the whole roof of my mouth, cutting down on your ability to fully taste.
I took a bit of a rest before starting on the second burger. It does take quite a bit of work to get the food cut up and get it chewed to be able to swallow it. I cut the second burger exactly as I did the first and then proceeded to eat it. I felt like it was a major accomplishment in my denture adventure. I have found, at least for me, that it really is like learning to eat all over again. And since I have no recollection of learning to eat as a child, I really count it as my first.
Tomorrow will be my first substitute teaching assignment with my new dentures. I have been dealing with learning how to speak clearly with the hardware in my mouth and we’ll just have to see how that all goes. It’s just a half-day assignment, so there’s that going for me.
One day at a time and in the case of eating, one meal at a time.
David Lee 