October 7 in Scott

Teeth

I think there is something genetic about my teeth that makes them weak or decay faster than others. Everyone in my family has teeth problems. I seem to have the worst. Currently, I have only six teeth in the bottom row in front. So far, no missing teeth in the top row. But all of them have had work done..

It’s been strange and at times hysterical to experience one tooth after another needing extraction. One tooth was so infected. The infection was going to my brain and the dentist I had at that time saved my life by pulling the tooth. I almost become blasé about having to have teeth extracted. Oh another one OK let’s get this done. I know the whole healing routine and the big part of that is not to get a dry socket. I hear it’s excruciatingly painful. With my most recent tooth extraction done in July something was wrong with the area after the extraction. It looked like a finger was growing out of the extraction site and it turned black. Believing something was in it. I tried to literally rip it out, which caused me to bleed much. It does not help that I am on blood thinners. Whatever I did seems to have helped it and it seems to be growing or healing normally. Last year I had a bridge made for the lower row of teeth. It was extremely uncomfortable, but I was able to eat solid foods for a while. I got so that I liked the massive contraption. Or so it felt. With a recent extraction, I cannot wear it. I eat a smoothie every day to get the nutrients I need without chewing. It’s helped me lose weight. Oatmeal in the morning sometimes eggs a few times a week. Soft foods.

With some humor, I have a nostalgia for the ability to eat solid food. I have fun memories of eating apples. Nice big thick sandwiches. Meat. Find memories of eating chips various kinds. So much I took for granted. Not being able to eat solid food never occurred in life so confident I was about my oral hygiene. I was never much of a soda drinker. I never smoked much and was never into junk food that much either but shit happened.

I try to see it as an adventure. Once the most recent extraction site heals, I am hoping the bridge can be adapted to it. I suspect that eventually, I will lose the last six teeth on the bottom and get half a denture. I would love to get implants, but that shit is expensive. I’ve become accepting and complacent about dental pain with one tooth. I put it off, dealing with it, and according to my dentist, I stopped feeling pain because the nerve died it totally decayed.

But this is an amusing adventure in my life to adapt to eating only soft food. I wonder at times if the lack of teeth has altered my voice probably so.