Dentures, Part 2

Note: I seem to have lost images that should be on this page. I do not have time to find them right now.

Today, 11 August 2003, I had that root and one more tooth extracted from the bottom jaw.

The situation is changing a little - denture wearers should never make adjustments to their denture and I agree with that. However, that said, I am not going to have this upper denture any more after I get a whole new set of dentures in a few weeks.

What I did earlier this week was to trim the back part of the denture. Here's why: In the roof of our mouths, we have a bone, beyond that there is soft flesh - I think that is a hole that goes all the way into our skull, but without a skull model... the thing is, that if anything covers that soft fleshy part - I gag. So I trimmed the part of the denture that covered that away - it felt great!

A few weeks ago, I started using the Fixodent Extra Hold powder, because I'm not using anything that is goopy or nasty - this stuff is a powder that is anything but goopy! It is kind of like a fast setting temporary cement. It holds my teeth in my head for many hours! So I have been experimenting with the Fixodent Powder by NOT putting any of it on the pallet plate of my denture and seeing how well it holds. It has been awesome!

Now, after my last extraction today (my next extractions is when he removes all eight of the lower teeth and I get the new dentures (full set)) I start thinking about trimming that pallet plate out myself.

I do not recommend anyone do this!

But since I was willing to spend the money if I screwed it up to get new teeth... and I am getting new teeth in about two weeks anyway... I trimmed away the back parts of each side of the upper denture - this made it smaller and lighter in my mouth, a little more comfortable too - bonus!

Then - being very careful, I trimmed the pallet plate out of the center. I took out less than I thought I would want to - from personal experience, less is more in this type of thing! I then had extra material on the denture I could use while smoothing out the job I did!

I'll put pictures on the site - probably this page - to show what I did, but after removing the center part, the denture is that much lighter! This means that the Fixodent Extra Hold stuff won't have to work as hard to keep the denture in place! I can't put pictures up yet, because I have used the stuff and the teeth are kind of stuck in my head right now (too funny)! The denture looks more like a lower denture (a horse shoe shape) than the upper you'd see normally. With only eight lower teeth and recent (today) extraction work - and being a vegetarian - it's not like I'm going to be eating anything tough real soon, but this is a nice little opportunity to experiment and I feel that it is going to go really well!

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OK here are the pictures of the upper denture that will be getting replaced in a couple weeks after I got done playing around with it... after I ate dinner, had some coffee and pulled on it for a little bit, I was able to get it out to take pictures of it (after I brushed it nice a clean of course!). Don't be fooled by the "rough" edge stuff in the center - that is due to the inside of the denture having a soft type of lining to it (rubbery is the best way to describe it). Also keep in mind several facts: First, my gums are still healing - meaning shrinking. This denture, without the Fixodent powder and even before I adjusted them would fall right out of my mouth. Doc and I did not make any changes, because WITH the powder, everything is OK, so no need to fix something that's not bothering me. Each of these pictures are thumbnails like most of the pictures on my site - click it and it gets huge!

Know what your getting into BEFORE you try anything - it could get expensive, I won't have these dentures but for two or three more weeks, so I am experimenting with them! Before I made this adjustment, I would not have needed to bring the Fixodent powder with me during a day even if I ate something. Because of this adjustment - not only do I NEED to have an adhesive, but I would also bring it with me in my briefcase every day now, so if you ever want smaller dentures and not have the mini-implants I will be looking at around December, you'll forever more NEED an adhesive for additional support! Another note - since I only have eight front teeth on the bottom right now, I can't really try out eating anything big, but I can chew like a hamster (front teeth), so in a few days, I'll be trying to see if the powder really holds in the back (as we try to eat with front teeth, dentures naturally try to pop off in the back - I think the hold of the powder will beat that in the foods I'll be eating.

Now, about my denture here: note that the teeth are not "perfectly aligned". This is because this upper was made to match my poorly aligned lower natural teeth! Also note that in the left picture, on the left side (on the third picture it is on the right side as the denture is turned), I am missing a tooth! That was an error to the best of my knowledge - there should be a tooth there, either it fell out of the wax try in model, or the bite was worse than we thought and the technician left it out on purpose! These teeth are kind of white. The next set of teeth will be the very whitest any company makes. If I get permission, (note: I did, they are listed on the "Shades" page!) I'll list the name of the company who made the teeth - I specifically asked for teeth from this one company and the whitest shade they just released! I had researched them out on the Internet by looking for "denture teeth manufacturer" if I remember right.

OK, enjoy these shots - if you have any questions, comments or anything, feel free to contact me at: ray@rayhayden.us

My email address changed, I am making the correction in all these pages, ray@rayhayden.us is correct, long story on why I let the vdo1.us site expire...

I'll update more later on - I have an appointment for the molds for the new upper and lower on 8/18/03. Then several days to a week later (depending on workload) I should get the wax try in - my wife will be attending that one for her approval. I want my teeth to look like I spent the big money on them without having to actually do that... again, my goal is to save as much bone now by pulling the teeth so I don't have big problems when I'm 60! Since I am just 40, I also want the greatest smile I could possibly have... make the best of an unfortunate situation. The "My Story" link fully explains why I am doing what I am going through.

When I get the newest dentures - and I have healed a day or so - I'll get the final extraction shot on the website extractions page, then when the swelling goes down in a few days after that - I'll put up the full new smile page under comparisons! The pics below don't get any bigger.

19 August 2003 - I went to see Doc yesterday and he took the impressions of my upper and lower gums for the full set of dentures that are going to be made. This next set is going to be that Hollywood perfect smile! I also had him reline my denture that you see above with new soft material.

As this is all an experiment, the new soft liner actually made the front of the denture fit great. I have but eight teeth on the lower - I'll add a photo of that to the healing page and perhaps to the extractions page so that whoever looks at these pages can have an appreciation of what I am talking about.

As I only have those front lower teeth, I bite down on the front of the denture above. This makes the denture try to pivot forward - this makes the rear of the denture pull down from the roof of my mouth. This is to be expected and is natural. I have removed the very far rear portion of the above denture because of a flaw in it, then I removed the other side of that to even it out and continue experimenting with it. The very rear part of the denture actually has (or should have) a cup like area to it where the denture grips your gums - you can feel the area if you slide your figure back in your mouth past your last tooth. The lower jaw is not like that - just the upper.

Doc relined the denture and made it much prettier looking - the "rough" edges are all smooth as silk now. By the way, the denture pictures above are clean and dry - the wet look is the flash on my camera - too funny!

On the subject of the new dentures, I contacted - and have been in contact - with the company that makes the teeth for dentures. They have two new whiter and brighter shades of white (people are bleaching their teeth like crazy - why can't a denture wearer have perfectly white teeth too?). The company sent me a sample of the new shades - I call them teeth on a stick. They also sent me a copy of a complete set of color shades! This was too cool. There are a lot of various shades available for denture teeth. I would wonder why at first, but a lot of people are not full denture wearers, or might only be missing one or two teeth - for these people, a bright white tooth would look worse than any other mismatch of color... so the companies that make teeth for dentists, make a lot of various shades so that a perfect match can be achieved!

Honestly, if I was missing a tooth here and another there - I'd go through what I am doing now anyway - rip 'em all out and get perfect teeth. Here is why I am doing this - food gets stuck in the gums - there, unless removed quickly, it basically rots. When it does this, bacteria forms to help rid the foreign matter... unfortunately, the bacteria also helped to weaken my gums ability to stay right up close to my teeth - creating "pockets". Even after deep scaling and very frequent cleanings, the deep pockets remained, or got worse! In order to save all the bone I can now - since it is not getting better - I am extracting all my teeth now. This way, I am hoping to be able to enjoy a brighter, whiter smile and also have better overall health - as many opportunistic infections can enter through our mouths - I am closing that avenue of entry for them!

I have an appointment on Monday the 25th of August 2003 so that Doc can take all the vital measurements for the new set of complete dentures. I'll update the site then. I'll be adding a new page to this site the day after I get my new dentures and after the first adjustments are made. So the menu will change or update one way or another.