the dental saga returns

Some of you might remember the ongoing dental saga I posted about in the past. It involved root canals (yes multiple ones!), dental surgeries, teeth pulled, crowns and implants. It went on for about a year. I was on a mushy diet the whole time. I learned to be creative making food that didn't require any chewing.

I think I just started round 2. I had to see a specialist for laser treatment of an nasty infection around one of the implants. My mouth hurts like bejeebers tonight. I'm back on the mushy food diet for at least a week. This sucks!

I'm so sorry that you are having to deal with this. I know how it feels to think you are on the right road only to find another bump in the road. Hang in there and take care.

Ouch! I've been thinking about getting implants but Ohhh!
I hope it clears up much faster this time and you don't have to go though such pain again.

Hello lizardlady , hope your chewers are better,

In England we have "mushy peas" marrowfat peas cooked until well mushy , I had most of my molars out years ago, (I think meds rotted them ) so I know what your going through ,
Soups everyday
Bye

Sidestepper, I am delighted with my implants. I have a terrible problem with gum disease. This time it got in around the implant instead of a tooth. I kept telling my general dentist I thought there was a problem and he kept saying he didn't see anything wrong. I finally got a new general dentist who took one look and sent me to the specialist.

Berthegel, I was thinking of mushy peas yesterday. Thing is I don't much care for peas, mushy or not.

So sorry, liz. Can you eat ice cream?

I could eat ice cream Trav, but stocked up on yogurt, pudding, applesauce and soup.

This afternoon I was dying for something solid so I picked up some sushi. I can only eat so much yogurt etc. It was avocado, cream cheese and crab meat in a rice roll. I'm hoping it was okay to eat. Everything was cooked and kinda mushy so I'm hoping it was safe.

No meds??? My sister made some split pea soup last week. Most people would look at split pea soup and say yuk. This was very very tasty. Hope you feel better soon.

Oh Liz.....I am sorry you are going through this....but you are keeping me company on the puree foods.......

I just had ALL my teeth removed March 27 & they had to do so much work they couldn't put the temp dentures in while I was out from the surgery (1 1/2 hours of surgery).....but when they tried to put them in 2 weeks later, it wasn't just the pain.....but the horrible gagging problem I have....I can't tolerate anything the size of the dentures in my mouth & it's not just about how far it goes back down my throat....& it's NOT something I can just get used to.

Oral surgeons said that they can't do the implants for the snap in dentures for 6 months......so I am on soft food.....feels like it's going to be forever at this point because it will have to be soft after the implants while they heal also.

I was brousing WalMart after the surgery one day when I had some energy & found this Ninja food processor that was only $39.....didn't have money for the really expensive ones....but this one has 2 containers...a smaller & a larger.....& it makes WONDERFUL puree's.

I actually broiled boneless lamb chops with a balsamic & rosemary glaze I made.......then stuck it into the processor with a little veggie broth to make it moist enough to puree......oh wow was that wonderful....get all the flavor I like but the soft texture I can eat.

I had purchased a thing of honey mustard chicken breasts from one of those guys who come around house to house....LOL...years ago & stuck them in my freezer......I actually got all 8 of them out & baked them....adding more honey mustard & a little marsala wine...covered them in aluminum foil & baked at 350 for 1 hour.....then took all 8 of the breasts & the sauce & pureed that......wow the flavor was awesome & it's a little more firm than soup though not totally like chewing meat.

I also found in Kroger this week thai curry chicken thighs....it's a bit spicy....but already cooked so just have to heat in the microwave for 5 minutes.....threw the sauce, the chicken, & also made 2 cups of brown rice to throw in to help cut the spice.....then made it into a wonderful tasting puree.

While I was at it, I had also purchased in the same area, grilled korean BBQ beef....microwaved that & threw the sauce & cut up the meat into smaller pieces & threw it in to make a wonderful puree.

Also doing carrots that way....throwing a honey glaze on them & pureeing them.

A lady at church made some potato salad & I mashed that into a puree so I could eat that.....making deviled eggs....only throwing in the whole egg rather than wasting the white & making that into a soft puree so I get the flavor.....just don't have the texture to deal with.

It's only been a month for me & I was already getting tired of soup, yogurt & ice cream......

LOL...I bought red velvet oreo cookies & forgot I had them until after the surgery....I threw a few of those & scoops of ice cream.....wow was that good....not just plain ice cream any longer.

The ninja processor can just chop but if you leave it on.....it grinds everything into a really smooth textures wonderful puree & it's the easiest food processor I have ever cleaned. The blades just pop in over this little peg on the bottom of the container & sticks through the top....& the power part is interchangeable & just sits on the lids...one button push & it's really powerful.....before I got that I had this little 1 cup chopper/blender that was really difficult to use....or a huge blender that was hard to clean & also had started leaking out of the bottom even though it's only a couple of years old.

Trader Joe's is one of my favorite stores.....they had wonderful tasting gravenstein apple sauce....but I added to it....sort of making a puree version of charoset that I could eat without nuts & rasins.....just add cinnamon, several tablespoons of honey & about 1/4 cup of blackberry wine (or raspberry wine...or a combination is good also)....blend that all together & wow is that a good flavor.

I also found this yummy butternut squash rissotto with the mild curry sauce at Trader Joe's.....I bought extra cut up butternut squash to cook & add to it.......ended up pureeing that rather than just mashing it up & that is wonderful also.

I cooked spaghetti squash before the surgery & didn't get it eaten.....I put just a marinara sauce over it & ended up pureeing that also....turned out to have a wonderful flavor also.....added extra garlic.

I figured I was going to be living like this for a really long time....I better figure out foods that I would like to eat or I was going to end up with anorexia again....wasn't on my list of things I really wanted to deal with on top of everything else right now.

Like you, I'm really frustrated.....have to totally rework my treatment plan next week.....but have been doing research & there are ways they can to small implants & then the only dentures needed are the little area that sits on top of the gums rather than the extremely huge plate that just doesn't come close to fitting in my small mouth.....I refuse to be miserable wearing dentures & gagging continually when I have them in my mouth....I couldn't even tolerate that so I'm not going to even bother.....they can keep the temp dentures & I will refuse to have any made until after the implants because they won't stay in until after the implants are in to hook them on anyway. It's going to be more expensive....but hey.....it's either that or go with NO TEETH for the rest of my life......I'm sure that the dental school should have all the state of the art abilities to handle problems like I'm experiencing. I should have known there was a problem when they tried to do the impressions & I was ready to tell them don't bother......they finally got it done but I was gagging during & for about 30 minutes after.....I was at the point then that I was going to tell them NO....dang...I need to listen to that little voice & stop being pressured to do something that isn't ok for me.

I am so glad that you changed your dentists. I wish the first dentist had listened to you. Hope you start feeling much better sooner rather than later.

Apparently recipients are not always well advised on how to care for their implants which leads to problems later: Dentists warn of risks of not looking after implants - BBC News

Eskie, I went the better part of a year eating mushy foods when this all started years ago. Like you I got to be pretty creative with what I fixed. Most of it came out good, but there was the time I made "stew". It was cold weather and I was dying for some stew. I browned some hamburger. Put that and some cooked veggies in the blender. The result looked like it had already been eaten. It was gross, but tasted good.

When my teeth were pulled and the implants set they gave me a partial to wear. I HATED that dang thing! It would not stay in place. I talked with my teeth clenched to the stupid thing didn't pop out while I was talking. The only time I wore it was when I was out in public. Rest of the time I did without.

Good article ManofConstantSorrow. The hygienist at my regular dentist skips over my implants when she does a cleaning. The specialist wants me to come to his office once or twice a year so one of his hygienists can clean around the implants. Thankfully I haven't lost any bone around the implant.

George, I'm on a short course of antibiotics to help fight the infection. Am using ibuprofen for the pain. The mushy food is more to let the site where he did the surgery heal than for pain management.

I had 2 implants placed 3 weeks ago. Last week one had to be removed because my body rejected it. So the oral surgeon did another bone graft. I hope all of this will be worth it at some point when I (hopefully ) have 2 good implants

Catnip123, I have been delighted with my implants, even with the current problem. Best of luck!

Sorry, I gotta whinge some more. The area that was infected was really bothering me last night. The area was inflamed and more nasty gunk came out of it. I see the specialist again tomorrow for a recheck. I suspect he ain't gonna be very happy. I know I'm not.

Ouch. that's not good at all.

*sigh* I saw the periodontist yesterday. The infection is raging. He put me on a stronger antibiotic for a longer period of time. I'm not sure which is worse the infection or the side effects of the antibiotic.

On the positive side, I'm able to eat regular food again! I celebrated last night by having a big salad for dinner.

I'm jealous....salads are my favorite food.....I wonder if I will EVER eat a salad again????

Hope the extra strong antibiotics help.....eat a lot of yogurt & take the probiotics to get the good bacteria back into your body. My pharmacist friend told me with the antibiotics that they gave me after the oral surgery for the sinus intrusion they had that I needed to be careful for the side effects........& if I had them to STOP the antibiotics immediately.

I am terrible at taking pills...especially when I had to take them 4 times a day....I was lucky if I took them 2 times a day & think I only ended up taking 1/2 the prescription. Luckily for me...no infection happened & the sinus problem closed up basically the day after surgery or at least that was the last day I had the feeling of the blood in my sinus & then running out my nose when I laid down......I took care to sit up & sleep for the next 5 days but never had the problem after that day after the surgery. They gave a huge dose of antibiotics IV after the surgery so I wasn't that worried but think there are different antibiotics that work for different things in the body......I have always hated taking pills....have no idea how I managed to OD on them so often during my dark years.....can hardly get them down my throat like when I was a kid....always had to take liquid meds cause I would choke on pills.

Eskie, you "salad days" (pun intended) will come. Hang in there. I love salads too and missed them during my mushy food period.

I forget to take pills in the middle of the day. Morning and evening are okay because I add them to the stack of other things I take. The mid-day one tends to be forgotten. Yesterday I took my "lunch" pill around 3PM because I forgot it.

He gave me the same warning to stop the antibiotic immediately if I had certain side effects.

I had some treatment for periodontitis some years ago but haven't been to a dentist since. I suspect I will one day have to wear dentures as there's very little bone left on some of my teeth. But luckily I don't suffer from infections. Besides, one has to be a millionaire to visit a dentist, much less a specialist in South Africa.

I hope you heal speedily LizardLady