It’s a long time since I’ve updated my implant story because it has taken some odd twists and turns and because it has taken such a godawful long time.

Present status is that I still have a resin-covered temporary implant-anchored plate on my bottom jaw. I’ve got used to it. It’s comfortable and keeps my limp lip out to some extent.

I saw the prosthodontist in December when he took the plate off and made another impression or model for the final teeth. I was so tired that afternoon that I didn’t take a photo but it was a hard metal framework that he managed to fit onto 2 of my 4 my implants. I had recently had a biopsy of my cheek and maybe for that reason, it was painful opening my mouth as far as it would go.

He took it off, said something about having made some progress and put the prosthesis back on with an agonising few minutes of difficulty getting the back screw in. The resin covered plate has been with me since 2022 and is starting to break up a bit inside. I assume the next step is to put real looking teeth on the bottom bridge.

Then the biopsy of my cheek showed a degree of dysplasia almost at the invasive cancer stage so I was off to Auckland Hospital at the end of January to get that taken out. A wee white patch – surgery was relatively easy – but I need time to heal before having more dental care.

Meanwhile back in the jungle of my deteriorating top teeth which I had been waiting for months to have taken out – a sudden onslaught of deep pain on 23 December – two teeth decided to hurt very badly until they were taken out on 29 December. Fun times. I had Christmas day off from pain because the first aching tooth seemed to respond well to antibiotics.

After radiotherapy we shouldn’t have teeth taken out without radiation levels being checked and if bad, perhaps having some blood flow enhancing treatments like Pentaclo. I KNEW this but it was Chrismas, the whole country shuts down for two weeks or so I thought and the pain was awful. Someone gave me morphine tablets which did work but made me feel uneasy. Fortunately Greenlane was open between Christmas and New Year, and after some very difficult attempts to explain my situation to the person taking the phone, we made contact and a very nice dentist took both problem teeth out on 29 December.

No more upper partial denture because there was nothing for it to hook onto. I was now almost toothless on top with two wee teeth to the side making me look like a pirate or worse. I wear a mask half mast everywhere now for my dignity and I talk a little bit better because that partial metal denture was so uncomfortable. Masks are good unless I talk at which time they get full of saliva because of my dribbling or if I drink coffee and put the mask on after which I dribble coffee left over in my mouth onto my mask. I wouldn’t mind going around without top teeth but it’s the two remaining ones that make me look very weird. Those teeth will be taken out fairly soon and then we’ll see. I’m not ashamed of being vain.

Another “meanwhile, back in the jungle” … The max fax plan to take my top teeth out and replace them with another implant-anchored prosthesis was bubbling away slowly in the background. I had been scanned in November to see if I had enough bone to place implants into. The results arrived in my patient portal. No major jaw damage due to radiation but signs of early osteoradionecrosis in both “alveolar arches”. I decided not to worry about it – I had enough things to worry about but looking back, why did I have no one to contact about these things? There really is a gap between ORL and dental and I have developed a sense of learned helplessness in regards to anything dental. I know how overworked they are because I was in the oversight committee for the whole HNC team – I have spoken up once – but generally I take the lack of comms on the chin.

The max fax plan mentioned by my prosthodontist (he really is a great guy but overworked to the max) had only been mentioned to me briefly … that plan popped its head up in late December, maybe accelerated by my dental crisis … and Greenlane or Middlemore rang me when I was sitting under a pohutukawa tree at Te Haruhi Bay. An appointment with a new and very expert max fax surgeon. He thought the scan saying I had early ORN was “not too bad” but that I had insufficient bone to put implants in. He didn’t seem to put it down to radiation but to being semi toothless for so long. But he said they could enhance the bone and then put implants in – that would mean taking bone from elsewhere – OMG – at 77 haveing MORE graft surgery. And I assumed my prosthodontust would have to carry out another three years of tricky frustrating work screwing things into my trismus affected jaw.

My mind worked fast – Simon had mentioned a denture while the implants were being done – maybe that could be an option but did I want to turn down a chance to get free implants which are FAR superior to dentures?

After a clumsy attempt to express this to the max fax, he made a kindly suggestion. Let’s try a denture for my top jaw and if it doesn’t stay up we can go back to Plan A – an implant-anchored plate. God, I’d be almost 80 by then but what can you do?

So here we are. I ride the waves and right now I’m more frustrated by a foot injury that is preventing me from going on long glorious walks than cancer and toothipegs.