Though it doesn't happen at every meal (the main time when she becomes distressed & notices the "slick" feeling of the roof of her mouth), it has become a very regular occurance, 2-3 times daily on average, for the feelings in her mouth to interfere with her enjoyment of eating ... Even causing her to stop eating, cry, & have a mini-panic attack. She is mid-early late stages of dementia. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as we are running out of things to try to help her feel more comfortable, & ease her mind so that she can eat a healthy meal. (I also think it is impacting the amount of her fluid intake, which concerns me greatly.)
Dental outside of dentures or repair due to another covered event (like jaw broken in auto accident) is not covered by Medicare. Medicaid coverage is pretty limited to preventive for kids done in conjunction with your states CHIP initiatives.
Almost to the end, my mom was able to eat and hold & bite into a sandwich, noodles, veggies, proteins. There's so much pleasure & use of cognition in the whole " eating" cycle that having teeth enables them to do.
Dental is certainly not inexpensive but on retrospect an awesome use of spend down. For those reading this, consider spending on dental as a priority.
I never knew that was possible. I had inquired because my loved one has gum disease and I am trying to weigh all my options in order to save her teeth.
How has your mom fared with an upper plate until now? Does she put them in herself? Has she ever misplaced them? What has she said the upper plate?