False teeth tweaking and near death experience

[PinkFloyd]

I just thought I'd share this most bizarre "experience" with you. Some of you probably know I've been having problems with my teeth and have been waiting almost 9 months to get some plug and play ones for the back of my mouth... well, long story short, they finally arrived.

Thing is, they were VERY tight and uncomfortable in places so I decided to tweak them. This involved cutting a large piece of the plastic "palette" out so the plate looked more like a small horseshoe (rather than a gagging / torture device) and also some filing down and fine sanding was involved. It took me the best part of 4 hours to perform the tweak but time well spent as the teeth were a lot more comfortable in my mouth.

I tried some of that denture "fixative" stuff and it was like bloody araldite plus it took about 20 minutes to scrape all the glue off the roof of my mouth when I removed the teeth.. not good. I tried "without" fixative and gave them a road test on a bag of nuts and all was fine..... they chomped through the bag of nuts quite easily and were vey comfortable in the mouth so... tweak successful?

Well, to be honest, they were sooooooo comfortable I didn't know they were in my mouth. Not "loose", not "tight" just comfortable and secure.... or so I thought........

Late last night I grabs a carton of orange juice and takes a big swig, yeh you guessed it...... the teeth end up lodged in my throat resulting in me almost choking and having to "wretch" to get them out

Honestly I thought I was going to choke to death but, fortunately they dislodged as soon as started wretching.. there was nobody on hand to perform the heimlich maneuver so I was lucky these teeth didn't go further down or I'd have been a gonner. Quite the "alarming" moment I can tell you!!

Anyways, from this day on I'll be using some type of "fixative" as I don't fancy repeating last nights experience

Fortunately these are only "trainer" temporary teeth and I'll be getting the full monty ultra sleek "chromed" jobs in two weeks time which are apparantly a lot smaller and a lot more user friendly.

For anyone who wants to try the mods, here they are:

1: Cut out "palette" section to form a horseshoe shape. This can be achieved with a dremel with suitable cutting disc.

2: File and sand edges to make smooth and finish off polishing with Brasso.

3: Cut off chrome retainers with a pair of snips and file / sand flush to the pink plastic.

4: Wash teeth well and do a test fit. Sand down any high spots and retest until comfortable in the mouth.

Warning! This mod requires that denture "fixative" be used. Using the modded teeth without fixative may result in choking / death. This mod is not (as far as I know) endorsed by the British Dental Foundation. Mods are totally at your own risk and no correspondence or technical advice will be entered into.

 

[iancraig10]

Who says us Brits have terrible teeth?

Headphones sound so much better without teeth. This is one mod that doesn't cost too much if you do it yourself.

Hard to do a comparison though.
Yuk

Ian

 

[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iancraig10 Who says us Brits have terrible teeth? Headphones sound so much better without teeth. This is one mod that doesn't cost too much if you do it yourself. Hard to do a comparison though. Yuk Ian

I've actually got very good teeth, just the top back ones were taken out cause they were causing a truckload of pain. I "insisted" they were taken out but, on reflection, would have probably been better off leaving the buggers where they were

 

[iancraig10]

Oh ..... I thought that it was compulsory for all good Scotsmen to have them removed by another Scotsman.

I'm Irish, so I'm just plain daft!!

Ian

 

[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iancraig10 Oh ..... I thought that it was compulsory for all good Scotsmen to have them removed by another Scotsman.

Only if you visit the wrong pubs

Quote:

I'm Irish, so I'm just plain daft!!

1st Man: Oh hello, how are you, let me buy you a drink!
2nd Man: Why thank you." he replies. "Where are you from?
1st Man: Oh, I'm from Ireland," he replies.
2nd Man: You don't say. I'm from Ireland too! Let's have another round to Ireland.
1st Man: Of course!

And they both pour back their drinks....


2nd Man: So, where in Ireland are you from?
1st Man: Dublin," comes the reply.
2nd Man: I can't believe it says the first man. I'm from Dublin too! Let's have another drink to Dublin!
1st Man: Aye! why not!" And both men continue drinking.
2nd Man: So, like... hmmmm... What school did you go to?
1st Man: St. Mary's, I graduated in '62.
2nd Man: You don't say! This is bloody unbelievable, I went to St. Mary's and I graduated in '62, too!
1st Man: Noooo way???

About that time, in comes one of the regulars and sits down at the bar. "What's been going on?" he asks the bartender. "Oh nothing much," replies the bartender. "The O'Mally twins are drunk again."

 

[socrates63]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PinkFloyd About that time, in comes one of the regulars and sits down at the bar. "What's been going on?" he asks the bartender. "Oh nothing much," replies the bartender. "The O'Mally twins are drunk again."

LOL

Pink, you and my father must be of the same mold (pun intended). He also insisted on teeth extraction which he sorta regrets now, and tweaked his dentures (many times) when he first got them... not a good idea, as you found out.

 

[iancraig10]

Irish jokes now is it? LOL.

My Mum and Dad had every tooth in their heads removed at the age of 40. Apparently, that was normal in those days. (60's) It was done just in case you'd have trouble in the future.....

I hope that wasn't a sick Scottish dentist and their teeth would have been fine really!!!!!

Ian

 

[lmilhan]

WOW! Almost a candidate for the Darwin awards.

 

[ken36]

Great Irish joke. Dentists need love too.

 

[lmilhan]

On a more serious note, my wife is currently studying to become a Dental Hygienist (she is already a registered Dental Assistant). I let her read your story, and look at the picture of your mod.

I summary, she read ME the riot act!

Here are a few tidbits from her lecture:

1) You cut out all of the parts that would retain them in your mouth properly (retainer clasps and palette).

2) By cutting out the palette you have created a shape small enough that if it slips and dislodges (highly likely now) it will go down your throat and you may die - as you have learned.

3) Polishing them with brasso can cause gouging/scratches - which will create a wonderful breeding ground for bacteria.

4) If you brought them back to your dentist right now, it is highly unlikely that he would even let you have them back in that condition since they are a potential death trap. Otherwise the dentist could be liable for anything bad that would happen to you as a result of using them in that condition.

5) Even using them WITH fixodent is still a very real and dangerous choking hazard.

6) She suggests that you stop using them until you can get back to your dentist. Tell your dentist what you did, and let the dentist see your modification. From there he will decide what further changes need to be made in order to let them fit comfortably as well as let them stay in place properly (VERY important).

Of corse, all of that advice is free and comes from a Dental Hygienist *student*. But she has been involved in Dental activities now for a few years and is top in her class. She has also worked extensively in a Dental office as a dental assistant, so I am pretty confident that she knows what she is talking about.

I implore you to get them modified properly - it would really be ashame to lose a valuable member of the Head-Fi community to such a crappy way to die. Better safe than sorry.

Good luck!

P.S. I know that we as headphone enthusiests are modifying FREAKS, but please do not make these modifications to your own falsies (ie: we apparently don't know jack about modifying false teeth)!

 

[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmilhan I implore you to get them modified properly - it would really be ashame to lose a valuable member of the Head-Fi community to such a crappy way to die.

Yeh, not exactly the most "cool" way to die is it? "man chokes to death on his false teeth"

Doesn't have quite the same ring to it as "man plummets to his death after diving out of a jumbo jet naked from a height of 30,000 feet"

 

[MD1032]

My grampa has false teeth for a few of his teeth also, and instead of using a gigantic plastic "palette" like you have, his have a very thin but strong metal band running along the roof of the mouth that is molded to his mouth, and his teeth are very unobtrusive, easy to get in and out, and are easy to clean. Picture the whole thing still intact, but now take a 1 cm wide piece of the center connecting the teeth straight across, and make it metal and thin. You definitely should request a design like this.

 

[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MD1032 take a 1 cm wide piece of the center connecting the teeth straight across, and make it metal and thin. You definitely should request a design like this.

For sure, the thing I've got at the moment is only temporary and the chrome job is on it's way. I want my own teeth back

 

[MD1032]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PinkFloyd For sure, the thing I've got at the moment is only temporary and the chrome job is on it's way. I want my own teeth back

Yeah, that the problem, they're like ears: you only got one pair! But I am sure you will like the chrome ones. My grampa wears them all day (without any kind of adhesive I might add) and then just throws them in efferdent solution overnight.

 

[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MD1032 Yeah, that the problem, they're like ears: you only got one pair! But I am sure you will like the chrome ones. My grampa wears them all day (without any kind of adhesive I might add) and then just throws them in efferdent solution overnight.

If you'd said "my little brother wears them" or "the girl next door wears them"........

"my grampa wears them"

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