New teeth, new life
Back in 2017, when I was pushed for a second term as chancellor of the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, I was asked by a member of the screening committee about my physical state. I answered, tongue in cheek, “walang dagdag, walang bawas (nothing removed, nothing added),” and I meant that literally, including my teeth, which were complete, no dentures.
That was to change during the COVID-19 pandemic when I began to have health problems, dental ones included. After being UP Diliman chancellor, I was invited to run a college, small but with very talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The work was hectic and it seemed to be reflected in my dental health. Partly, it was age and gums getting weak, but I have no doubts there was stress as well.
This was the time when actress Demi Moore talked publicly about losing two front teeth, attributing it to stress. Articles appeared in the press with dentists clarifying that yes, stress can contribute to dental loss but not directly; i.e., depression or anxiety leads people to neglect oral health, neglecting flossing and brushing their teeth.
That was a long introduction to my column, a way of explaining how I lost my right to boast about walang dagdag, walang bawas. I was losing teeth like crazy, some to the dentist and others literally just dropping off. Then the dagdag came in—I was given all kinds of options: porcelain veneers, dental implants, or old-fashioned dentures. But it turned out cosmetic dentistry now includes all kinds of preliminary procedures, sinus lifts for example. I was at the dental clinic nearly every week. As I reached the “finishing line” for dental implants, I was told it would be better if I go through some of the procedures under general sedation. My doctor friends were uneasy because of my age and cardiovascular problems.
Meanwhile, my schedule was getting crazier, and I decided to postpone all the dental procedures. I was ready to go through life with removable dentures, and allocate my budget to my kids’ braces.
Then long COVID struck me this year, a two-month struggle with inflammation hitting nearly every organ system, including the teeth and gums. I would remove my dentures more often and twice in the first month, I nearly lost them—COVID brain fog blocking me from remembering where I placed them.
Then one night, I finally lost the entire set of dentures, with one real tooth deciding to drop off on its own shortly after.
Dental problems are just not discussed enough as a part of this terrible long COVID.
There hasn’t been time to deal with being toothless with teaching and taking care of my kids and, lately, two geriatric dogs! I was on the brink of deciding I would just live without dentures, as many old people do.
Even our family driver, in his 40s, had given up on dentures, which meant he was totally bungal, missing all his front teeth and mentioning the international billiard champion Efren Reyes, who is bungal too. Reyes, in a press interview, said he was on a flight and was offered a beef dish, which led him to decide that he didn’t want dentures anymore. He left his dentures in the plane’s toilet. I wonder if it was more of a Filipino folk belief about suerte or good fortune, coming to people who are bungal.
I was resigned to being toothless until I ran into a dentist friend, the best among the best. He gave me one look and asked about the missing teeth. I gave my long explanation, and he looked at me sternly: “And you forgot that I was a dentist and that you can come to me even at midnight?” Then he went into a long sermon about the dangers of not using dentures, from malnutrition to giving bad speeches (I did notice how many consonants I would mispronounce without dentures, starting with “f” and “v”). And then too, my kids would diplomatically remind me I was no longer the cute, adorable chancellor people once knew.
Within a week after I ran into my dentist friend, I was strapped into the dental chair to start the assessment, and making the initial mold for the dentures. In the second sitting, I had some extractions and then the new denture was installed. It was amazing and I have to say that the first look I had of the new me, I inexplicably broke out singing “I Feel Pretty” from “West Side Story,” consonants complete.
It’s only day one today as I write, but I’d say don’t write off dentures or implants in old age.
