Hey all! Long time no post :) I had someone reach out and ask for an update, so I'm happy to give it :)

Last time I gave you all was days 5 & 6 in one post (July 14th & 15th), and then I kinda stopped because I felt I'd overstayed my welcome with continuing these long, rambling posts of mine, but I'm glad they still seem to be helping some of you guys out!

Things seemed to improve after that first week, I didn't really need the hydros anymore! I could chew some here and there, but it always seemed like two steps forward, one step back, because I'd be able to chew some in the evening, but sores were still wearing here and there and I was in pain the next morning. I wasn't supposed to go back in until the 24th, so I had another week to mess with these and try to get used to them. Lots of mashed potatoes, lots of liquid diet type of stuff. We tried garlic butter noodles again with spaghetti noodles and they were cooked the correct amount of time, instead of longer, so they were a bit rubbery and hard to chew. It eventually became easier to just try and cut them up and just kinda suck on them for awhile, long enough that I could kinda chew with them. But the sores that were rubbed, I was having a really hard time with. The adjustment on the 15th (Day 6) helped with some of the major sores, but I still had a lot of spots that made it very uncomfortable to even try and chew.

I had an appointment on July 24th and I was really hoping I'd get my soft relines, but all they did was grind down some of the spots that were being problematic and causing sores. I stopped wearing the dentures for a few days leading up to this appointment so they could hopefully heal. Still lots of salt water & Acclean swishes to get stuff out of the holes that are still in my gums. But no soft relines on the 24th - I have to wait another 2 weeks before I (hopefully) get those. But without those problem spots with the temps, it was making it a lot easier to wear the dentures. And I was told at the time I could put some Fixodent in certain spots (don't put them near the molar holes in the back).

So I went home & tried that. I can get the top to stay in great, since I can put thin lines along the top of my palate, but the bottoms were still a mess, especially when I try to apply the Fixodent them along the front in the spots I can think of. When I go to chew and they kind of teeter totter on my bottom gums when I try to chew, and they pop back off pretty easily. I've realized that the swelling has gone down enough that the dentures don't really have something to grab onto, which is extremely frustrating. I even try putting in a Seabond pad and THEN add the Fixodent, no luck either and I Just have a gooey mess in my mouth. My bottom gums are no longer swelled up enough to touch the inside of the immediate denture.

Over the last week or so, they've continued to shrink at both the top and bottom gums, where even the top denture isn't staying in very well and both sets feel like they're too big for my mouth. They seem to look it as well, when I look in the mirror, like they make my lips jut out. I'm spending 90% of my time without them in because it's easier to function, as well as "eat" and drink without them in. Even if I use Seabond strips in both AND Fixodent in both, they've still lost touch enough in my gums and palate, that food and drink just keep getting under them and I just have a goopy mess left over, between the Seabond strips and the Fixodent. I have sore spots again that are forming if I try to leave the bottom denture in, especially if I try to bite down. There's so much room between the bottom denture and my gums, that the only stabilization it has, is when it's touching at the base of my gums and under my tongue area and it really hurts if I push/chew on them. I only put them in if I have to really enunciate on the phone, since I do tech support. We have a mask mandate in my town, so it makes it really really easy to go out and not have to worry about people looking at me funny without my teeth in, I just talk rather mush mouthed.

But currently, I'm back to mostly a liquid/gruel diet and things that are easier to eat. Biscuits and Gravy have been my saving grace on getting some food that's closer to a solid state in my stomach - biscuits alone being a great carb because they just kind of disintegrate. I tried some pizza the weekend before last but the immediates couldn't bite it or chew it, and I'd really been looking forward to pizza. The immediates are pretty much useless until I get the soft relines, and that should hopefully be this coming Friday (the 7th of August). *fingers crossed* I'll give another update once that happens :)