Mouth Now Empty Of Hardware

Previous episodes in this saga here and here.

I went for my week-later checkup at the oral surgeon today, and all looks well, so he was able to remove the protective plate from the roof of my mouth. This involved snipping the wires holding it in, and pulling them between my teeth, releasing the plate. It came out easily, and I asked to keep it. Dr Song was surprised I wanted to. Considering how much it cost, I think it’s perfectly reasonable.

I’m reminded of UK motorbike racer Barry Sheene, who had a nasty accident which smashed his legs, so he had loads of plates and bolts holding his legs together. When they were removed, he had them made into a sculpture. I’ll use my mouth plate for olives or salsa at parties.

The tissue in my mouth is healing nicely, apparently. I’ve done a good job of keeping it clean – I’ve definitely been going for it with the warm salt water rinses. When the plate was removed, he told me to rinse thoroughly with the good old chlorhexidine. This was because normally, old cells get sloughed off while eating, but with the plate in place, they had built up, and need to be encouraged to leave. Pretty nasty, apparently. Still have to stick to the gentle foods – no crusty bread, salt’n’vinegar crisps or other pointy food.

Funny – my primary doctor is Dr Singh, and my oral surgeon is Dr Song. Both excellent. Dr Song says I need to go and be checked up every four months for a couple of years, to see if anything appears again. If it does, it’s biopsy and operation time again. Tonsils crossed.