Re: Numbness on Roof of Mouth and Tasting

[Guest guest]

i am 4 mnths post op and have the same problem..its a terrible stiffness....

with upper and lower surgery...anyone should think twice before doing this

surgery

[Guest guest]

Most of our sense of taste's, actually occurs in our nose...check

this out,

How we smell is a very complex process involving a part of our nose

and various parts of our brain. We have the ability to recognize up

to 10,000 separate odors but each thing we smell needs to be

volatile (capable of entering a gaseous state) for our senses to be

able to detect and identify it.

Noses come in all shapes and sizes externally but the external

features are only for the passage of air as we breathe. Internally,

olfactory epithelium (mucous membranes) located on the roof and

upper part of both walls of the nasal cavity are the part of the

nose that detects odors. This epithelium " contains some 5 million

olfactory neurons, plus their support cells and stem cells…each

topped by at least 10 hair-like cilia " . During normal breathing the

inhaled air slightly touches the cilia so that odors can be detected

from the environment. Sniffing, which is deliberate, strong

inhalation of air through our nose, pulls the air deeply into the

cilia to increase the amount and strength of the odor that has been

detected by increasing the amount of the gaseous chemicals that come

into contact with the cilia.

> Has (or did) anyone with numbness on the roof of their mouth think

> that it affected their ability to taste (& enjoy) eating food? I

am

> about 7 1/2 weeks post op from upper jaw surgery, and got my

splint

> out after 6 weeks. I have been starting to chew some, but I find

> that the numbness just seems to interfere with the tasting and

> satisfaction of eating. My tongue is not numb at all, so I didn't

> understand why this is happening. (I originally thought that the

> tongue is where all your taste buds are, but I found out about 25

%

> of your taste buds are on the roof of your mouth).

>

> Sometimes I try to push the food more to the side of my tongue, to

> feel some " taste " and that helps a little, but it just doesn't

help

> enough.

>

> Anybody else experience this same frustration?

>

[Guest guest]

When I was first diagnosed with TMJ, my ortho put me into a split

that covered all of my upper teeth and most of my hard palate. I

wore it 24/7, especially to eat. The first thing I noticed is that

half of my taste sensations went away. In particular, I couldn't

taste garlic nearly as well. I switched orthos, and my next one put

me into a lower splint. As soon as my hard palate was exposed

again, I started tasting food again. So I'd say it's not all in

your head.

Kris

> Has (or did) anyone with numbness on the roof of their mouth think

> that it affected their ability to taste (& enjoy) eating food? I

am

> about 7 1/2 weeks post op from upper jaw surgery, and got my

splint

> out after 6 weeks. I have been starting to chew some, but I find

> that the numbness just seems to interfere with the tasting and

> satisfaction of eating. My tongue is not numb at all, so I didn't

> understand why this is happening. (I originally thought that the

> tongue is where all your taste buds are, but I found out about 25

%

> of your taste buds are on the roof of your mouth).

>

> Sometimes I try to push the food more to the side of my tongue, to

> feel some " taste " and that helps a little, but it just doesn't

help

> enough.

>

> Anybody else experience this same frustration?

>