Edentulism

Edentulism

Have you ever wondered why people lose teeth? How about the process after tooth loss? What exactly is going on in the body and mind of a person suffering from edentulism? I cannot speak for everyone. I can only tell the story from start to almost finished in hopes to educate and inspire people to take action and take care of your teeth! Are you in a relationship with your oral hygiene routine? Fall in love and stay committed with your tooth care process, because if you don’t your body will reject your teeth. Did you know; the tooth is the only body part that cannot heal itself? Teeth are also like a finger print; they are uniquely yours. (Healthline.com, 2021).

My relationship with my teeth began about forty-five years ago. I had a rocky start but was pretty sure this love affair would last. During my elementary school years, my first cognitive thought of oral hygiene was realized when I was five years old. I was summoned to the nurse’s office, in an allotted time slot after lunch, to receive my annual fluoride treatment. The anxiety mounting as the time approached. The application process is quite simple, the disdain is resolute. The nurse asks, “what flavor do you want today? This year we have bubble gum, cherry or grape.” I always picked the bubble gum flavor. The smell unforgettable, the take me out to the ball game quality, ready for blowing bubbles. Smack, pop, smack, pop goodness. Horribly, the consistency of thick mucus. The color reminded me of the pink stuff my Mom drank for heartburn. Yuck! Laying back, mouth wide open, the nurse applies the goop. What seemed like an eternity, thirty minutes, done; until next year. The nurse hands me a new red tooth brush and travel size tube of tooth paste and a small container of floss thread, while giving an impromptu on how to floss and says “brush twice a day and floss after you eat.”

The purpose of applying fluoride to the teeth keeps the enamel on your teeth strong. Fluoride is a natural mineral that when applied fights bacteria that is harmful to the tooth enamel and gums. The enamel on the top surface of the tooth is the hardest part of the body. There are natural sources of fluoride that include water, tea, food cooked in water and eating bone-in fish. Believe it or not, you can have side effects from too much fluoride. These symptoms include nausea, diarrhea, excessive sweating and fatigue. (Healthline.com, 2021).

As my smile matured, my teeth were coming in straight, white, not a cavity in site. Beautiful, the fluoride treatments, my brushing twice a day was working. Unfortunately, I am seemingly counterproductive when it comes to taking care of my teeth. In my late teens I take up smoking. I was so cool. My god, there was a smoking section at the high school I attended. Up until the late 1980’s it was acceptable to allow students and faculty to smoke at school. Apparent now, educators were also counterproductive with respect to smoking. I know what you are thinking, yes, it was the beginning of the end for my poor teeth. The following attribute to tooth loss, decay and poor oral health. The use of excessive alcohol, eating disorders, poor oral hygiene, poor diet, and the lack of professional dental care. Who knew? (Healthline.com, 2021).

As I continued down the oral highway to hell, my subconscious insisted on infiltrating my dreams. That is when it began, my reoccurring dream that haunted my slumber for over two decades. I would dream my teeth would fall out of my mouth, be falling out or about to fall out. Have you ever had a reoccurring dream? If so, listen to your dreams, take heed and make hast. Month after month, turning into years, I would wake and scurry to find my dream dictionary, an actual book I owned, no internet search engines existed then. Why am I dreaming about my teeth falling out? The exert in the book read: you will lose money, you are feeling loss, same premise… you are at a loss. The way I lost my teeth in my dreams were random scenarios. In one dream, I am eating, my teeth start to crumble in my mouth. I feel like I am eating pebbles, crunch, crunch, crunch. Another dream, teeth fall out while I am driving down the road and I spit them all out in my hand, shocked and crying. Another dream I am swimming, gulp in water, spit out water and my teeth come out too, floating away from my grasp. I am always shocked and horrified by these dreams. I never connected the dots or thought they were related to my oral health.

Fast forward ten years, my son is born. About a month after his birth, my number 1 tooth and first tooth breaks. Humans have a total of thirty-two teeth. The numbering begins on the top right side of your mouth. I immediately make an appointment to see a dentist. The dentist informs me that I have a couple cavities, need a root canal and a good cleaning. A root canal consists of removing the soft center of the tooth. This is referred to as the pulp of the tooth. The pulp is made up of connective tissues, nerves and blood vessels. (Healthline.com, 2021). Well, if you have not already guessed, I did not go back to the dentist. I have dental insurance, have had dental insurance my entire life. I also had a false conception that all those fluoride treatments and brushing over the years had protected my teeth from cavities. Why didn’t I go to the dentist? I still don’t know the answer.

Another six years pass and tooth number 15 bites the dust. I wiggled it back and forth with my tongue constantly until it fell out. I tucked it away for safe keeping and as a reminder; I suppose. The exact same day my first tooth fell out, my reoccurring tooth dreams end. My damn subconscious, it tried to influence my actions and feelings and failed miserably. I am in complete denial; I continue with my brushing regiment. I should have added flossing to my daily oral care, I did rarely. An American dentist, Levi Spear Partly, introduced the idea of using a waxen silk thread to dislodge matter, that a brush cannot reach, which is the real source of disease. Bacteria builds up on your teeth and turns into plaque if not flossed away daily. The human mouth has more bacteria than there are people in the world. Another fun fact, amazingly, the long-tailed Macaque monkey from Thailand floss their teeth and teach their young to floss. (smile source.com, 2017). It stands to reason, if it is done in the wild, it is probably a good practice.

A couple more years have passed. My teeth are slowly decaying. What does tooth decay taste like? Can I taste it, can I see it? To me the decay camouflages itself as an ice-cold beer on a hot summer day, strawberry shortcake with whip cream on top. Taste like the all you can eat candy palooza on Halloween. It also tastes like Grandmas homemade blueberry pie and a night out at the drive-in movies; popcorn and soda in hand. Visually the decay is more apparent. Aside from the hole where the tooth once lived, it is as yellow as a sticky note. Where I should have written down- go to the dentist, and strewn then throughout my house as a reminder. My Mom reminded me, every so often, when I complained of a tooth ache. She would tell me, "Go to the dentist, they can save your teeth." Mom can relate, she too had lost teeth, had them pulled and now has dentures.

Today, I find myself again; three more loose teeth. This time number 11, right up front, it is holding on for dear life. The stinging when I drink water and the lack of ability to chew my food completely. I cut my food into smaller peices since I can no longer bite directly down. My mouth is rejecting the life line of this little guy; mockingly we have had a good run, ate lots of steak, you are done here. I call the dentist and make an appointment. I told the receptionist that my tooth will probably fall out when I get off the phone. Yes, yes it did fall right out of my mouth. There was no blood, no pain there was no going back. I think to myself, thank goodness we have to wear a mask in public. No one will be able to see my toothless smile. I am scrolling through social media and see one of my great nieces lost her first tooth. Happy picture of her, I contemplated posting my own toothless grin, tooth in hand. My vanity cast that thought aside immediately. No tooth fairy visiting me tonight.

So, now here I am, literally faced with having the remaining twenty-nine, yes, twenty-nine teeth pulled and replaced with dentures or snap-in teeth. Because I can not go without teeth. I am secretly wishing they all fall out, like in my dreams. Two dentist appointments later, two sets of x-rays and the constant reminder in the mirror, my teeth are leaving me, I hate it! Abandoned are the thoughts of heavenly bliss, oh nothing is wrong with my teeth, replaced now with the constant image of my colapsed face in my minds eye. The cost to perform this procedure… what for it… Seventeen Thousand dollars. The real cost, the time I can’t get back. The time I should have taken for myself and taken care of myself. Take a bite out of this not so fun fact, I know I can’t, more than thirty-six million Americans are missing teeth. (cdc.gov, 2021).