Dentures & The Band

[mufasas-mom 170]

so - after thinking about this long and hard and doing alot of my own research.... maybe the sleeve is best for me. here is my thinking:

I have dentures (due to years of chemo) 3 yrs ago and have NEVER been able to wear my lower dentures as all - I had all my molars and such pulled out 2nd year of chemo (over 10 yrs ago) and therfore the bone loss is pretty severe. No amout of adhesive can make them stay in place - so i have to have the surgery in 2 years to have the posts put into my jawbone and then get the new dentures (insurance dictates we can only do this every 5 years).

My concern is - I cannot CHEW my food into mush....no matter how many times I chew, I don't have the tools needed to make it into mush. As it is now, when i eat chicken and such and if it's a bite that is a bit too big (trust me I cut everything into tiny bites) i get pain in my chest until it moves through. I can't imagine how bad it will be even with my esophagus being smaller than it is now....

waiting on call from doctors office to discuss this issue - as i have not brought it up before, I kept fooling myself into thinking I'll be able to make the food into mush....it is also very embarassing - although most people don't even notice that i don't have my lower teeth.....I'm self conscious now of how i eat, I dont' want to add to that misery.

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

I can completely understand your fear. My heart goes out to you.

I too have a partial lower denture. My front teeth are my own but my back ones are all denture. Like you, I lost teeth and had a lot of problems due to medications, in my case it was a combination of IV steroids and interferon. I was really nervous about the chewing thing too, and mine are able to be worn pretty securely.

You definitely will need them to chew properly with the band. I know if I attempted to eat something like meat or breads without them in, I'd end up stuck for sure.

Talk to your doctor and see what he says, but as much I don't want to talk you out of the band, I agree chewing could be a real problem without a properly fitting lower denture. I'd rather you know the truth and make a good decision than have you rush into it just to find out you can't eat.

I am so sorry, truly. I wish you could get the posts for the new lower sooner so this would be a non-issue for you, because I guarantee with a properly fitting lower you'd be just fine chewing with the band (as I am).

Best wishes in whatever you choose.

[Jess55 97]

Personally I think that may be a good choice to go with the sleeve. I have a class 3 malocclusion. Which mean my teeth don't meet in the back which makes it difficult to chew things well. Unfortunately I did not think of this pre banding. I knew my teeth didn't meet, but I never knew what it was called til recently. I've realized that I never should have gotten the band, I only have 0.75 ml in my band, but still if I'm eating chicken I tend to feel it go down and it sort of gets stuck. So this is one reason I am not looking for restriction and I'm just trying to lose weight without the band

[mufasas-mom 170]

thanks - just waiting on the insurance person at True Results to call me back regarding coverage of the sleeve. I have also emailed my insurance company for clarification of this as well. I really don't know why I thought it would be a non issue all these months....guess I was just fooling myself.

I have been to the hospital 3 times over the last 2.5 years thinking I was having a heart attack - only to discover (many doctor appointments and tests later) that it was food being restricted by my esophagus as I was not able to completely chew my food as well as others.

I have reached my max out of pocket for the year, so I'm not concerned about the costs....but I'm sure the recovery is much longer.

I think I'll call my insurance company now to get a freaking answer....I'm going to worry myself sick about this until I know if the sleeve is covered.

thanks for your support.

[mufasas-mom 170]

yahoo - just called the insurance company and it is covered - no need to do another 6 months or anything - so I just have to confirm with True Results to switch surgeons to one that performs the sleeve and I should be good to go....phew.

after talking with the nurse at the insurance company who specialized in bariatric care - she agreed 100% that if I am not able to chew my food throughly NOW, then it will be much worse if I got the band, as I'd be miserable and since the insurance only covers 1 surgery per lifetime, I better get one that will work for me.

I feel so much better...again - thanks for everyone's support!!

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

yahoo - just called the insurance company and it is covered - no need to do another 6 months or anything - so I just have to confirm with True Results to switch surgeons to one that performs the sleeve and I should be good to go....phew.

after talking with the nurse at the insurance company who specialized in bariatric care - she agreed 100% that if I am not able to chew my food throughly NOW, then it will be much worse if I got the band, as I'd be miserable and since the insurance only covers 1 surgery per lifetime, I better get one that will work for me.

I feel so much better...again - thanks for everyone's support!!

I'm glad it worked out for you- and that you checked into this before being banded

Best wishes for success with your Sleeve!

[mufasas-mom 170]

I also reached out to a few fellow lap-bander's who have dentures - and unfortunately they all experience alot of difficulties and eventually had to have their band removed. I am so thankful for this 6 month waiting period to enable me to do my homework and research. As at True Results they literally slam the lap-band down your throat. But it's my body, my decision and they have on staff 2 other doctors who do the sleeve, so I don't have to 'fight' with them to obtain all my testing and 6 month history to go elsewhere....but I was prepared for that battle if I had to do it.

We will see what happens on my August 1st appointment, since I've not met the surgeon yet - it's just switching surgeons at this point.

thanks again for everyone's support and answers!