Thanks for the knowledgable response... appreciated.
<BOR>
>> Terminology <<
Educating patients about the proper terms is apparently not part of my huge (uninsured) dental fees... I tried to learn anyway, but...
These are removable dentures, seven "caps" (sockets) on the upper denture and five "caps" on the lower denture... "caps" is the dentist's term ...I personally think sockets are a better descriptor.
First, the issue was finally resolved by the second dentist... and, but the time I got back in the chair, job one was to communicate the impact of the mismatched mounts to the quality of life and present solid evidence of the major problem which had not been acknowledged up to that point.
Numbering the "caps" from left to right 1-5, after an hour of discussion and demonstrating the right rear to left front tipping motion with caps releasing with minimal pressure after the denture was seated (partially) an "educated guess" was made that cups 2 & 4 were too low.
He then took a circular saw tool and removed those two caps, then after deeping the empty holes in the denture, he snapped the removed caps onto posts 2 & 4, put glue in the holes snapped the denture on the remaining 3 posts and we waited while the glue set.
When the denture was removed, fortunately, the glue held (which it didn't on a prior attempt and I glued the cap in myself with JB Weld epoxy ...which held for the next three months ...and is still holding)
When the denture was then snapped back in place, both I and his assistant knew immediately from the sound of the posts seating that a major improvement had been accomplished... only took two years!
Us dumb uneducated patients are assumed to know nothing and, therefore not expected to be part of solutions. Things like the terminology need to be clear or discussed and worked out if not and assumptions made that patients need to be an active part of the process... without making an issue of wrong terms being used.
It's impossible to describe the misery that I was in for the two years prior to that "snap" I used to enjoy a good meal, but I don't think I ever will ever do so again ...even with the seating problem resolved. As bad as things were before the decision to go to dentures was made, I wish I had never made the decision to do this.
<EOR> (End Of Rant)
Sincerely,
Beverly Howard