Toothmug

Today

Paul's having some difficulty with his meals at the moment. As part of his ongoing dental work (see Feb 17th 2010 entry http://in-my-day.blogspot.com/2010/02/positive-ageing.html), all the redundant teeth have been removed so that he has to eat his dinners with, effectively, just his incisors.

His dentist gave him the choice of implants or dentures. Thankfully, he chose the former. It would be a bit strange being married to a man who puts his teeth in a glass at night.

In My Day

Removable teeth can present many hazards. When Paul first joined the ambulance service in 1976 he was taught early on to remove the dentures of unconscious elderly patients. The ambulanceman responsible for his on the road training time and time again reminded him "teeth"!

On one occasion he was attending to a semi-conscious patient. He attempted to remove the teeth but the patient put up a surprising amount of resistance."Paul tried to persuade her "Come on, love, I've got to take them out; it's for your own safety." He continued to struggle while the patient clamped her mouth down on his hand.

Suddenly Paul noticed that his colleague was doubled up with laughter. "It's not funny", said Paul "can't you help me?" "I don't think so" replied Brian "I don't think those are dentures; I think they are her real teeth!" In great embarrassment Paul took his hand out of the patient's mouth.

And then there was the case of Fiona who, one night, removed all the dentures at the old folks' home where she worked and put the whole lot into a single large washing up bowl of disinfectant....I think some residents never got their own teeth back and there were some chomping away on two lots of uppers or lowers for some weeks.

Brian drove home the point by presenting Paul with a huge set of teeth made out of Eastbourne rock.

So, once Paul can actually chew his food, at least there won't be a toothmug by the bedside.