I had a dentist appointment this past week. I've gotten to know my family dentist very well over the past 5+ years. We joke around all the time. She helps make what has been a traumatic experience (going to the dentist) a fun one.
During my recall exam, she was checking my jaw joints (TMJ). Basically, she places her hands on either side of my head where my jaw joints are and asks me to open and close. I asked her "Do they feel real or fake?". I'm glad we have a good relationship and she understood that I was referring to my joints. (As opposed to my breasts, since "are they real or fake" is a question that normally applies to that body part and could have become a very funny situation). Anyways, she said that no one has ever asked her that. She does have a couple patients that have prosthetic joints. She was taken aback by my question because I completed surprised her.
Her response was that they feel fake. I personally cannot tell that they are fake. I don't hear any noise. They feel real to me. When I first had the surgery, they did make noises due to the swelling. However, now they are silent.
The only difference is that I cannot move my jaw side to side with prosthetic joints. I can move them only a very tiny amount side to side, more like a tiny wiggle. Basically my primary movement is up and down. When I chew, I basically open and close. I don't move side to side and do not perform a grinding movement like I used to do. I find it takes me longer to eat my food. It's not that I am a "slow" eater and take my time..... it's more like I have to chew up and down more in order to get my food to the same state as I could previously where I was able to grind up my food with my teeth.
During my recall exam, she was checking my jaw joints (TMJ). Basically, she places her hands on either side of my head where my jaw joints are and asks me to open and close. I asked her "Do they feel real or fake?". I'm glad we have a good relationship and she understood that I was referring to my joints. (As opposed to my breasts, since "are they real or fake" is a question that normally applies to that body part and could have become a very funny situation). Anyways, she said that no one has ever asked her that. She does have a couple patients that have prosthetic joints. She was taken aback by my question because I completed surprised her.
Her response was that they feel fake. I personally cannot tell that they are fake. I don't hear any noise. They feel real to me. When I first had the surgery, they did make noises due to the swelling. However, now they are silent.
The only difference is that I cannot move my jaw side to side with prosthetic joints. I can move them only a very tiny amount side to side, more like a tiny wiggle. Basically my primary movement is up and down. When I chew, I basically open and close. I don't move side to side and do not perform a grinding movement like I used to do. I find it takes me longer to eat my food. It's not that I am a "slow" eater and take my time..... it's more like I have to chew up and down more in order to get my food to the same state as I could previously where I was able to grind up my food with my teeth.