More Annie Leonard and Free Range Studios

I'm taking a break from the story of my mouth to bring to you another video by Annie Leonard and Free Range Studios called The Story of Bottled Water.
Again, these videos are just a way for me to introduce concepts to some that may not have thought about them before. (Always do your own research instead of relying on an eight minute video for accurate sources.)
I am lucky as I live in Portland, OR where the tap water is as good as it gets but a good majority of developing countries around the globe have little to no safe drinking water yet this industry takes their resources and creates more pollution just by feeding the demand for bottled water. I don't know. Think about it is all.




Urge Your Congressperson to Support The Water Protection and Reinvestment Trust Fund <--Click here.

The Amazing, Shocking, Spectaculoso Grande Results Pictures!!!

I'm finally able to smile without pain. I guess that means it is time for BEFORE and AFTER Wonderment.

I don't think I really need to label them. Right?

Overall pretty happy with my new smile.

There is a whole level of psychological adjustment for myself and those that see me regularly. It will be a time adjustment. Over time we will adjust.

Coming soon: All of the things you never thought about concerning dentures and toothlessness. I know you can't wait.

Sippin' on some sizzoup!

Well, I've got a big ole denture in my face finally. My very swollen face, that is. When I look at myself in the mirror and just relax my mouth it resembles Napoleon Dynamite's lazy and lippy almost guinea pigish mouth. Cho being the gem that she is has taken Soren on a trip to Seattle on the Amtrak to give me some alone healing time but before she left made me two vats of delish soup. Potato leek and tomato.

I've been chillin'; suckin' down Vicodin and sippin' on some sizzoup for the last 24 and am feeling rather chipper. Gonna go back down to the dentist's office for a check-in in just a little while but until then I think I will put my feet up in the sun, read Parable of the Talents by O. E. Butler and have my first cup of coffee in a couple of days. Spring Break!! WHOOOO!

Smiles for miles

I set a date the other day with my dentist's office. March 22nd. I have been thinking about this event for a long time now and still fear that it may never come. Why am I so inclined to prepare for the worst? I haven't had a terrible life. With a family who loves me and shows it, a supportive best friend and wife and an overall appreciation for all I have, you would think I would believe I deserve this. I guess I do. I want a happy, pain-free and healthy mouth but for some reason I can't shake the feeling that I can't reach what I deserve.
Anything good in my life has been born of luck/circumstance. (My beautiful smarty-pants son, random wind-falls, a stable and loving childhood, easy ways out of potentially bad situations, etc.) This may be the explanation for my laziness. Some call it procrastination but I can't hide behind that ruse. I have never really had "follow through" on anything in my life. I'm always reading 5 books at once and fail to finish any of them. I have great ideas that may solve social problems or change minds to a more open point of view yet do nothing about it. I feel as though something akin to karma will bring some good to me sooner or later. (It more often than not does) I do well by those I care about as well as those that may wish me harm. This is a conscious decision but is it enough of a proactive approach to living? Probably not.
That is why I am slowly shifting my view of how my life should be led. Education and health are currently my biggest concerns and I feel I am making positive choices that will lead to a happier me. Now I just need to figure out what I truly deserve and have a little dessert/reward with this pretty good feast/life of mine. (Maybe I'll have something with nuts on top after I get my new teeth!)

Yay, More Purple Goo!

I had another dentist appointment today. They took more impressions of my mouth. It was the last one before the big surgery though.

For the first impression, about a month ago, the dental assistant assured me he was quick and it would be painless but strange and maybe a little messy. He didn't cover everything with that description. He started mixing and pouring and measuring out different powders and liquids, like an alchemist on speed, until he came up with a baby blue goo that looked like melted Laughy Taffy, spread it on to a dental tray and shoved it in my mouth. Luckily for me they had ordered the quick drying sea-weed derived variety of blue goo that week. The sensation is hard to describe but not too unpleasant. Really the taffy analogy may be the closest. Imagine eight or nine squares of taffy chewed up to that smooth consistency and pasted against your teeth on a dental retainer like tray until it hardened again and then yanked off with all of its suction-y prowess. Now imagine that four times in a row. He didn't account for my high palate the first time and had to take the lower impression too. Then try and imagine my bearded mouth coated with hardened blue taffy goo all up in my hairy business. I was given a wet paper towel and a handheld mirror to try and get it all. A tedious process you might have noticed in all that imagining I just made you do.

The second impression visit was last week and the worst of the three. Done this time by the dentist with a tad bit more finesse and care than the assistant had shown. The goo this trip was purple and it seemed like it was twice the amount of taffy. When it was shoved against my upper teeth the goo oozed down my throat coating my uvula (hangy down "punching bag" thing in the back of the throat that makes you gag. Yeah.) before I could block off the goo's pathway with my tongue and only after it was in place was I told that this was not the convenient "quick-dry" stuff but the "FOUR MINUTES to harden" stuff! I just concentrated on a cheesy musak song rationalizing that pop songs usually last about three and a half minutes and I need only get through a verse-chorus-verse-chorus-chorus chain of simple melodies. It worked. There was less mess but when it was yanked out it left a horribly, minty, and numbing quality all over my mouth. (I don't know what my lunch tasted like that day.)

Today was easy. Today six trays were put in my mouth with a very minimal amount of pinkish purple goo and it measured my bite. Quick, no side effects and no mess. Yes!

Hopefully by January we will be able to put some money down on this crazy expensive endeavor and I can get some new teeth for the new year. Uh, Christmas present ideas?...buy the gift of love; gimme cash for teeth.

Now for the gruesome. I figured I should have before and after pictures as to document this properly.

These eight wounded soldiers are all I have left upstairs. They will be put out of their misery soon enough.
Here is a before smile for later comparison.

The same as a sweltering jungle. Blech!

I guess I should start with a run down of what is currently going on in my mouth. Like I said I have had 7 teeth extracted: #'s 2, 3, 4, 12, 13, 15, & 19. I was also born without wisdom teeth. (I know. Luckily, right?) Below is a diagram of the teeth numbers and other info.

I have only learned the numbers and names of teeth by listening and paying attention to what my numerous dentists have talked about with their assistants. I feel it is important to know a good deal about the subject since it is a major part of my health concerns. I don't see how people can just go in and ignore all the information available about what's ailing them.

I don't really have any molars left. #'s 18 & 20 are almost non-existent from decay. However, 21 through 31 are doing just fine after my last session in the chair when I had seven cavities filled. #5 through 11 are falling apart slowly and are, in my opinion, not worth the effort. The only spot in my mouth where my teeth actually come together so I can chew food is between 10 &11 on top and 22 & 23 on bottom. I have had to adjust my mastication techniques throughout the years due to sensitivity, damage or missing teeth so my jaw is all out of whack too.

All for now...

Daddy needs a new set of teeth.

WARNING: Subject matter may be too much for the squeamish!



Over the 31 years of my life, I have endured many a hardship when it comes to my teeth. I cannot or will not put the blame on anyone or anything except fate because there are too many factors to why I have horribly rotting teeth to narrow it to just one culprit. I have had 7 teeth extracted (yanked out of my head) in the past 10 years and a majority of the rest of them are sharp crags, jutting from sore and sensitive gums. My mouth is a veritable graveyard with numerous stories of pain, circumstance and battles that individual teeth have lost when faced with a difficult job (crisp dill pickle, apple slice, crusty baguette, berry seeds, et al.).

For some reason I feel like I should chronicle my mouth developments on this here blog. There will be some major changes in the coming months. You may find it interesting and/or disgusting. You may feel ill or angry. Whatever you feel don't feel sorry for me because very soon thanks to a recent infection and some pretty good dental insurance I will be getting an immediate upper denture. Yes, I said denture. I am not 70 or a meth smoker. Just ready for some new teeth.


The picture above is of my face when I had that nasty recent infection. It turns out I had an infection in two teeth this time not just one like all the other times. Pretty, Huh?

More to come....