That awkward moment when...

You get used to things being as they are. Time has passed since removal of teeth and adjusting to the denture lifestyle has happened. Then you go through the morning without putting your denture in and don’t think anything of it. 

You feel hungry so you make toast and a cup of coffee and then; damn.

Am I like Superman if I change my own identity?

I know I’m the same person I was before the dental surgery that changed my life. I know I needed it

or things could’ve gotten a lot worse and I would be in bigger trouble than I was, but there are times now when I look in the mirror and, even though I’ve gotten used to my face without an entire row of teeth, it still makes me think there’s a different person looking back now.

A gummi-bear.

I can’t seem to get that name out of my head now. Gummi on one part only though, but still…

But maybe this is a phase, the adjustment phase.

Soft food recipes - Chicken & Sweetcorn Soup

Another meal idea for soft foods/post-surgery recovery.

Personally, I love this soup and there's no better kind of soup for healing and recovery than chicken soup. The corn just makes it a little better.

20g butter

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

5 chicken thigh fillets, trimmed and sliced

1 litre Real Stock Chicken

2 x 420g cans creamed corn

2 x 125g cans corn kernels, drained

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/4 cup sour cream

Salt and cracked black pepper

1/3 cup chopped coriander leaves

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.

Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add the chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Stir in the stock, creamed corn, corn kernels and sugar.

Bring to the boil then simmer for 15 minutes or until the chicken is very tender and you’re happy with the consistency.

Remove from the heat and stir through the sour cream, salt and pepper. Top with the coriander and serve.

For more varied texture, process one of the tins of whole corn kernels.

There are more ideas and recipes, or you want to change to a healthier diet, I recommend checking out Changing Habits.

Soft food for recovery

Brothy pumpkin soup

This is one of my favourite soups, easy to make and nourishing. Especially in winter as it is here in the Southern Hemisphere right now.

Perfect for when solid food is out of the question.

Ingredients

• 1 medium pumpkin, chopped with the skin removed
• 2 brown onions, quartered
• 1/2 clove of garlic
• 2-3 carrots, chopped
• 1-3 Litres of homemade broth (chicken, lamb, beef, turkey or goat) (Add less broth for a thicker consistency and more for a thinner consistency)
• 1-2 tsp Changing Habits Seaweed Salt
• 2 Tbsp Changing Habits Coconut Oil, butter or ghee
• 2 tsp ground turmeric powder
• Cream or yoghurt to garnish with (coconut or dairy)
• A handful of activated or toasted pumpkin seeds for garnishing
• A handful of chopped fresh herbs for garnish (parsley, coriander and/ or basil)
• A sprinkle of Changing Habits Dulse Flakes for garnish

Optional Add Ins: 3 potatoes peeled & chopped, 1 large sweet potato chopped, 2 golden beetroots chopped, other spices such as cumin, pepper, chilli, ginger ect..

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Add all of your chosen vegetables (except garlic) to a roasting tray with the coconut oil, butter or ghee and roast for 20-25 minutes.

2. After 20-25 minutes check the veggies and turn them over to make sure they cook evenly. Add the garlic to the trays and continue to cook until everything is golden brown.

3. Once ready, add all of the veggies to a large saucepan along with all other ingredients (except for garnishes).

4. Allow to simmer on the stove until desired (you can slow cook this down to intensify all of the flavours, or quickly cook then blitz to puree).

5. Once ready, ladel into bowls and garnish with cream or yoghurt, dulse flakes, herbs and some of the pepita seeds.

6. Store any leftovers in the fridge for later. 

Why do we always chew rice?

Funny thing, during the recovery phase I had a soft food diet, a very soft food diet; soups, minced

meat and an Asian rice dish called Congee, which is basically a porridge made of rice.

But even though rice is just small grains, you always get the instinctive reaction to chew it, how small does it have to be?

And let me tell you, chewing anything when you have stitches in your gums is never a pleasant feeling.

It’s strange, looking back when I had a full head of teeth, whenever I ate rice I always chewed it before swallowing. It wasn’t until I lost half my teeth that I found I could just swallow it.

It may be the most bizarre thing I’ve ever discovered about myself.

What’s more bizarre is that I’m willing to post it online…

But if you are going through the recovery phase and need something tastier, and healthier than plain old rice, check out this at changinghabits.

Hauling it out of your mouth

The first time I used fixative, taking the denture out seemed like a freakish experience. The technique used to remove it when there is no fixative is quite easy but doesn’t fully work once it’s fixed in. You need to jimmy it a bit with a finger, ease it down at the front and then rock it a bit. It may seem like a lot of work reading about it, but once you do it a few times it gets a lot easier.

Once it’s free, there’s another freakish experience in store. 

The fixative forms some sort of ‘spit bridge from hell’, have your denture brush ready and use soap (never toothpaste) to scrub the remaining fixative from the denture. Then you can put your denture away for the night it whatever container you use. It’s important not to leave it in overnight, even if it feels like you can’t get the denture out of your mouth. It’s important to rest your mouth and not risk putting the denture out of shape.

For the fixative still remaining on the gums, just spit the majority of it out (I don't need to tell you that, this WILL come naturally). Brush your remaining teeth and also gently brush the gum line and the roof of your mouth (also a freakish experience that eases in freakishness after a few times.

It’s all part of the adjustment phase. This becomes routine after a while and you get used to it.

If you’re new to dentures, I hope this takes away any apprehension of using fixative. At first I wasn’t too sure and waited a while to get used to the denture first, then took the leap. Yes, it will keep the denture in place but it’s not super glue, it can and will be removed if you need to (and do not, ever, use super glue on your dentures!!!)

If you have a different way or a better experience than mine, post it in the comments.

The Whistling 'S'

If you’ve just received your denture, you’ve no doubt noticed that any word containing the letter S sometimes makes you sound like a referee blowing a foul in a basketball match. It’s quite common and we all go through it.

The reason is because when you speak, the air rushes between the denture and the roof of the mouth and out of the small gap at the front between the denture and gum. Sure, it can be embarrassing when it happens, and for me it made me feel older, much older than I am. But there is one sure-fire way to prevent it, or at least minimise it while you re-learn to speak with the denture.

Happy(ish) anniversary

For me, today is four weeks with dentures incorporated into my life. I’ve adjusted well and still need to adjust more. This is a long road but a road that I must travel now.

In the beginning I didn’t think I would get through it. The inability to eat normally was the toughest but I got through it, yes there was some pain, and there is a little now when I eat.

Dentures belong in the mouth, not on the cake

Still vibrant and a great sense of humour at 102. I hope I'm the same if I get to that age. But I'll make sure to stock up on fixative first :-)

To Tell, Or Not To Tell...

Spending time with people now raises a question in my mind. How do we tell people we’re wearing #Dentures? Do we even need to tell them?

Obviously, the people closest to us would know, but new people we meet, or acquaintances and people we like but aren’t really close to.

Sometimes it feels like everyone’s staring, they probably aren’t. Maybe it’s just me feeling insecure and self-conscious. I always feel like I’m trying to get away with something by not saying anything, but at the same time I want to explain why I’m talking differently, or how excited I am that I bit into a piece of food. It feels like I have a secret but if anyone asked I’d probably say yeah I do. But it’s not something I would raise.

So, what’s crawling in your mouth right now?

We’ve been told this since childhood, some of listened, while others were too busy with other things. And maybe now those kids (yeah, my hand’s up on that one) are paying the price for not listening. But now it’s become more important than ever to take note of the simple things, and learn to incorporate the new.

We know that proper hygiene is required with #Dentures. You need to make sure that there is no build-up of bacteria that can cause you more harm. If left unchecked, bacteria can multiple on your denture and in your mouth and begin to attack any remaining teeth causing cavities, toothache or worse; more extractions and the possibility of needing another denture, or a full denture.

Re-learning to Smile

This is probably one of the biggest hurdles for me. For years I’ve re-learnt how to smile to hide my poor-conditioned front teeth; turn up the corners, keep the front lip over the teeth, turn away, hold up my hand even. But now that the teeth have been replaced and they look good, although maybe not as

Dinner was awesome!!

I went to a restaurant tonight, I know I’m making a big deal about it, but it’s the first time since having my teeth pulled that I had the courage to go anywhere in public, let alone eat. So what do I do? Like any bull-headed man I order steak; medium rare, Jack Daniels sauce, mashed potatoes and veg. Sorry, I didn’t get a picture of it ‘cos I’m not one of those people who

Passion and dentures sometimes work against each other...

Back in the day you could have an unfortunate event happen and not have everyone in the world see it and laugh. But those days are gone now. Probably why they invented fixative.

Oh the pain... the pain

The main cause of denture pain when you first wear them is because the gums are still healing. Give them time. Cope with the pain as best you can. You still need to adjust and wear the denture so the best thing is to wear them for an hour or so, then take them out and give your mouth a rest.

Splinters of bone can come loose during the extraction process and these splinters can poke through the gum. When the denture goes in these splinters can cut the gum causing pain and discomfort. If the pain is too unbearable, talk to your

My first day with my new denture

I felt happy, and part of me knew that I was heading back to normality (whatever that was). I could smile again and not worry about a missing tooth showing or the condition of the remaining teeth. Speech was a bit more difficult. It sounded like I had been drinking all night but that is part of the adjustment. All it needed was time and practise.

One thing no-one ever told me was feeling of the denture in my mouth. It felt unnatural, like there was a dinner plate in my mouth. Consciously, I knew it was a denture and all the benefits it carried with it. Subconsciously though, there was a foreign body stuck in my mouth.

Seriously? 12 teeth removed and the Tooth Fairy won't reimburse my dental bill...

It’s been two months since I had all the remaining twelve teeth from my top jaw removed. I’m out of the constant pain phase and have been through the readjustment phase. I got to the point where I was used to the feeling of not having my top row of teeth. Barely eating and when I do, it’s a diet of baby-food-like meals.