Tag: jaw

Dental Saga: Don’t Make Me Laugh

~ JodiLea ~ Leave a comment

Why?

Because my dentures will pop out of my mouth, and believe me, you do not want to see that. This everlasting cold is keeping me wheezing and coughing. These are also hazardous to my new choppers.

Most of the swelling in my face has dissipated. Now I am having trouble keeping them in at all. I promised my dentist that I would at least wear the upper one a few hours a day. I must get my jaw used to them, he said. Yesterday I sucked it up and glued it with extra Polygrip. Gravity was not my friend. I added some more glue and held it in place for 3 minutes. When they finally stayed in, I realized they had slipped off-center and hung crooked. Of course, they were now going to stay adhered to my jaw, so I left them as they were. At least the presence of teeth kept my lip from caving in, so I could lose the mask for a while.

Well, it took 10 minutes today to get my teeth to stick. I hate looking at them – probably because they don’t even resemble the teeth I once had. But these are only the 1st draft teeth – just for cosmetic reasons. So I keep forcing them in every day. And keeping myself busy with small projects to take my mind off my aching gums and jaw. Tomorrow I have an appointment with my primary doctor. It is a routine appointment that I would cancel if I didn’t suspect I have walking pneumonia. I should have gotten over this cold a month ago.

No new noteworthy developments going on here. Just the same ol’ test blood sugars, have Glucerna for a meal, then take a nap. Yawn.

TTFN 😉

Oh Hell, To The Queen

~ JodiLea

Royal blood does not run in my family’s veins. (Type I Diabetes does.) Being The Queen is not in my destiny.
And yet – I am constantly being crowned.  Tiaras

It would be a different story if these crowns were diamond encrusted tiaras. Alas, they are but porcelain tooth coverings, that involve pain and a lot of money.  I suspect I am the reason my dentist is such a happy guy.

You may remember I had two root-canals last summer.  (Probably not, but I sure do.) My dentist and I agreed to “recycle” the crowns that popped off when the teeth went bad. These ‘re-treads’ did not last very long. In December the left one popped off, exposing the tiny stub of a tooth. I already had an appointment to prepare for a crown for the tooth that broke in half in November, but my exposed nub took priority and stubby was prepped for a new crown.  The new crown was put in two days ago. My appointment to prep for the broken one’s crown is next week.

This very morning… the 2nd recycled crown came off. Because this stubby tooth is directly aligned with the upper broken one, I must now chew on the other side. You know, the side that still is sore from the Novocaine and crown fitting (i.e., cramming it in place with cement).

Perhaps you are lucky enough to have strong healthy bones and teeth, and have been spared learning dentistry the hard way. If that is true, I hate you, but I will still tell you about the side effects. Your bite changes. Every procedure, filling and (temporary + permanent) crown you get will change how your jaw moves. This means you are in for a lot of cheek and tongue biting until your jaw adjusts. Until the next repair work, that is.

In my case – next week.

♥  TTFN  ♥

 

photo credit: Tiaras via photopin (license)

How I Spent This Lovely Weekend…

~ JodiLea ~ 1 Comment

I am not normally a quiet person. It doesn’t even matter if I’m alone, which I seem to be a lot these days. I’m usually talking to me, myself, and I during the day when hubby is out puttering in his shop, and I am being a domestic goddess. Or writing.

That is until my Thermal Nuclear Joint attacks me.

It’s medical name is: ‘Temporal-mandibular joint’. If you are lucky enough to have no idea what I’m talking about, an excellent WebMD® page explains the Temporal-mandibular Joint Disorder in layman’s terms. Please forgive me for hating your guts, but I have dealt with PAIN for 4-days now and I hate everything!

I owe everyone I know an apology.  TMJ_1Please be patient about getting one.

Even when I don’t move my jaw, some invisible entity with a hammer keeps pounding an ice-pick deeper and deeper  into my ear. If I only had the combo to hubby’s gun safe I could blow this freaking entity away. Or my head off. Either way – problem solved.

The level of PAIN that one small joint can cause astounds me. Take a look at the drawing. See the large muscles protecting the little TM joint? They tense up to protect the joint, and when they tense too much they push the joint out of alignment, increasing the pain factor. Now, your jaw is swollen so much that you appear to be keeping a jumbo jaw-breaker (pun intended) inside your cheek. This is not a good look for an older woman.

If I could open my mouth to scream I would, but I am forced to scream in my head. This could be why I have a huge headache. I can’t concentrate on sewing, crocheting, knitting, my book, anything. Not even this post, which I started yesterday, trying to distract myself and maybe find some humor in all this.  Yeah. Right.

Alternating Advil and Aleve every two hours, for 4 days, has torn up my stomach. But only they and my ice pack are helping me keep what sanity I have left and that isn’t much at all.  Saltines and 7-Up are to combat the nausea.  I will have to drive down to the store this afternoon. My pantry is empty because of my vanity. I have not gone to the store (or anywhere) because I look hideous. I would take a picture and prove to you that I am not exaggerating, if I wasn’t so vain.

Dinner tonight pork loin and seasoned potatoes – grilled, with a side salad. Hubby will be very happy to have ‘Real Food’ for a change. For men it’s not ‘Real Food’ unless it’s meat & potatoes.

I am actually looking forward to my cottage cheese with a little shredded chicken and green olives. (No, I am not being sarcastic, like usual) And don’t forget the Taco Bell mild sauce on the side. I thought my daughter was crazy too – until I tried it. You can buy bottles of it in the hot sauce section at your local grocery store. This is perfect for people like me who never want to set foot in a Taco Bell again.

For dessert I made a (sugar-free) banana pudding pie, because sometimes popcorn isn’t a good idea.

Only 25 more minutes to wait – then I can take more Aleve. Until then, I need to go get some more ice.

Ta-Ta For Now (TTFN)  😉