My worst nightmare with losing denture; anyone else deal with this issue?

Harpcat,

I am so sorry. What a nightmare! You absolutely have a right to speak to the NH about this catastrophe.

My word, dentures! It’s not just the expense but that certainly is enough to be angry about. It’s also, your dad not being cared for properly. Now he doesn’t have teeth to help him eat. That is such a shame. So sad.

We all know and many have experienced common issues like laundry missing or jewelry going missing, but teeth! That tops the list for super annoying issues. Can he eat okay? Are you concerned that he will choke?

Theft in NH’s is horrible. Misplaced items are an inconvenience. Having to replace items is a nuisance. I still say that this takes the cake! They may not confess to any wrongdoing. They may say it’s his fault. Who knows?

I do know that my oldest brother would lose his teeth. I actually know another person that has lost her teeth three times. What does she do with them is anyone’s guess. Her daughter gets so upset when she ends up having to buy more teeth for her. She says that she accidentally throws them away.

I go through this too with my mom. Often, one of her plates will be in the bed while the other is nestled in the denture cup. I spend many a morning on my knees peering under the bed, riffling through the bedsheets muttering "Please be here, please be here!". I figure she takes the top one out and leaves the bottom one in.

I need to get both her dentals engraved with her name. Never get around to it, although I have a partial, removable, lower "tooth on a flipper" that has my name on it.

No advice. I’m sorry. Picking up our third set of dentures this next week. Wish we could put one of those tiles on them so we could track them when they go missing...because they WILL go missing.

I would definitly get his name engraved on them. Many years ago (too many) I worked in a Nursing home. At night when the patient would go to bed their teeth were put in a cup with their name on it and then placed in a room and someone on the 3rd shift had the job of cleaning everyone's teeth (wouldnt you love that job?) Then in the morning the aid caring for them would pick up their teeth when they were getting them cleaned up in the morning.
Well................. One night one of the wandering patients got up in the night and mixed up all of the teeth. The next morning no one's teeth fit them right and they had no clue how to determine who's was who's . From then on, their teeth did not leave their room. Sounds like in spite of the passing of time, teeth continue to be a problem. I am sorry for your frustration. I would be too.

Sandy

Place a hidden camera, available on line. We purchased a large display clock, about $70, which is a perfectly acceptable device, b/c no one would suspect a large print clock in the room of an elder. The only drawback to ours was removing the chip and replacing it every other day or so, then taking the chip home to review on the computer. The newer ones have probably improved greatly than the one we purchased in 2010.

They do also just wear out and break, you know, eventually.

So so far, you've found out that it went missing two weeks ago - was that in his notes, or did someone tell you? I'm wondering if the same source can also reveal what was documented at the time and who you need to approach to find out more about what was done to look for them.

Of course you need to take this further, but eyes on the prize: they could still be on a shelf somewhere waiting to be claimed, don't despair until you know.

I want to cry reading this. Literally. First of all I have heard stories so that the lost denture situation is (to others) a joke. Laughable. Daily occurrence. Unavoidable (they say). BS I say. And I say this as a 60+ year old single person who fears for her future survival but tries not to dwell on that. If someone with dementia hides their damn dentures, (or staff lie about it) that's a problem. But the blatant neglect and lack of paying attention to a meal tray, or when cleaning, or doing laundry. I don't have to point out the importance of nutrition to survival and comfort, and if someone can't eat or eat well there is a choking risk. All of this is so wrong. And then we get to the massive uncovered expense of this dental stuff. I guess in the end I don't have a real answer. I remember retainers and I think there used to be a way to put a patient's name in the plastic for identifying purposes. Or these days with all the chips out there for everything, why can't they imbed a chip so they could be found. Why can't people just slow down enough to go through linens before they hit the machines to double check for this stuff? Clearly it starts with the aide tearing the linens off the bed.

I have a different take on this. Dentures are not a necessity, they are a luxury. People can still eat without them, perhaps not the same food, but it is not hard to get adequate nutrition without teeth.

gdaughter, have you seen a commercial laundry? It is not like a home laundry where it is easy to check each pocket, or shake out sheets. It is not reasonable to ask an aide to shake out the sheets when changing the bed, especially if they are soiled. Think of the potential mess... Nor should aides be expected to go through each trash can to see if a senior has put something in the trash that should not be there.

It is not blatant neglect to not examine each item on a meal tray to see if the senior has hidden something in it.

In assisted living and nursing homes, things will go missing, some will be lost by staff, some will be pilfered by other residents, and still more will be lost by the resident. Sure put a chip in the dentures, if you want. Keep in mind that this now allows tracking of those teeth, while being worn. Perhaps a security feature for wondering seniors, but do you really want Dad being tracked all the time?

Every sheet, every pocket, every pillow case, every ball of used tissues, every paper napkin, every seat cushion, every plate with leftover food on it...

More commonly, *under* a plate on a tray. If they were then found in the kitchens, with no name or room number to identify them, that should be where they still are. I should check if I were you.

What do the papers say? Some NH, (I know the ones in the area I'm in) spell out that they're not liable for lost dentures, glasses, etc. It is up to the patient and/or their family/friends to make sure their personal items are not lost/missing.

Could be anywhere, could have been any number of reasons it is missing:

1) lost by resident
2) tossed by resident
3) left/hidden somewhere by resident
4) taken by another resident
5) tossed with meal remains (wrapped in tissue?)
6) run through washer/dryer
7) ???

My biggest gripe with them is the fact that they didn't notify you when it happened or as soon as they became aware of it. I highly doubt that someone wouldn't notice well before 2 weeks! Second gripe would be working with you and the dietitian to ensure his foods are appropriate for someone who has no bottom teeth!

I am also annoyed at the loss of hearing aids (a bit smaller and less conspicuous than dentures for sure.) We didn't ask for any monitoring of the first one when she moved in, as she was mostly okay doing it herself. Once in a while I would have to check her room for it (when I would bring it, she would ask where'd you get that! Still recognized it and would wear it.) More often I had to replace the batteries as she WOULD forget to do that! I did give them batteries and asked them to change them every 2 weeks at some point, but clearly this was not being done (also wasn't doctor "orders", so it wasn't in her "chart".)

I WAS notified right away when hers went through the laundry. I had expected something to happen at some point, but this could have been avoided. Although shaking out sheets for some residents could be a hazardous approach, mom wasn't doing any of her "business" in the bed, so they *could* have checked. If the sheets contain bad stuff, as some suggested, wouldn't you dispose of that before putting it in the laundry? That would be like putting baby diapers in the washer without removing the BM!!! ICK!

Anyway, it took some time to find a new provider (no response from previous one) and the replacement pair was ordered to mold both for the left ear (right ear hearing was already shot.) Since these were chargeable, I gave the charger to staff nurse, to avoid mom tossing or losing it, so they were to 'control' it - take at night before bed and charge, return it in the morning. Sure enough, a few months later #1 goes AWOL. They had NO idea what happened to it. Suspect is perhaps wrapped in tissue during a meal and it got tossed. They *will not* help with replacement cost (these came with a warranty to replace them at $400 each, so it isn't like buying a pair!) So, we're down to one remaining... At this point, mom is 96 and between not knowing how much it helps and her taking it out too often, I would likely not replace them if this one goes AWOL.

At least the Boogie Board (LCD tablet to write/erase notes when she can't hear well) reappeared. This likely went 5-finger walking, but it is odd that no one found it before now, since it is HOT PINK casing and sleeve too! Kinda hard to miss something 5"x8" in florescent pink! Her pocket calendars also reappeared (bought one and then a replacement when it disappeared!)

I have no answer for the denture situation, at least Mother still has her own teeth. HOWEVER - she has an eye condition called keratoconous where her corneas are actually cone-shaped and can only be corrected with rigid contacts. She did fine with them until she went into AL. She had her nightly routine down to the minute, and if an aide wasn't available to help her (and, good grief, she'd actually try to track them down in other people's room - to my great dismay), she'd just go ahead and do it herself. Well, naturally, with the tremors she had in her right hand, she was losing them weekly. The ophtalmologist and I (as MPOA) decided that we had the choice of spending $150 each time a contact was replaced, or just letting her not see as well anymore, and opted for the latter. Glasses would be an unnecessary expense, as they wouldn't correct the vision by pushing the cornea back into shape as the contacts did.
So, I can relate to losing expensive remedial and/or prosthetic devices and deciding what to do about it.
Mother was an accomplished artist, so it's been hard for her to accept not being able to see clearly, but she sees well enough to recognize us still! That's worth a lot when she's already been assessed at severe cognitive impairment.

This was the worst part of caregiving for me. TG Mom didn't wear dentures and never wore her hearing aides so they didn't go to the LTC with her.

But her glasses were another thing. I took pictures if them. Easier to find.

At the Memory Care community I work at, one of the residents ate another of the residents' hearing aid! Ate it. To say the family of the resident who's hearing aid was eaten was pissed off is an understatement. The resident who ate the hearing aid was taken out of our place & is now living in a smaller home with only 12 other residents. She was also pulling nails out of the bottom of chairs and eating THEM.

Stuff happens in these places all the time. I don't believe there is malicious intent involved, or blatant neglect either. Things just go missing. They should have let you know right away, of course, that goes without saying.

I wonder if the dentist can make another lower denture for your dad from the last mold that was used........? Is such a thing possible? Naturally you want heads to roll for this, but the main thing is to get the denture replaced asap.

Good luck.

In response to the mention of security cameras: I am in favor of them. I used multiple cameras, sensing devices, automated lights and talking clocks to keep my mom safe in her own home. But, I don't understand where having one in your dad's room is going to help improve his personal care. If you get permission, do the research to pick the camera, set it up, are you going to live stream it to your phone or are you going to purchase cloud storage to later watch the footage?

My aunt w/dementia lost hers...they think she rolled it in the napkin during her meal and it got tossed with her tray contents. She was also hiding things in the seat cushions in her room. I wouldn't be too hard on the staff... I can't imagine trying to keep track of little pieces of things when the residents are actively misplacing or hiding them on a daily basis. Is it possible to ask a dentist who makes the dentures to keep the mold? Or ask for the mold so the patient's family can keep it in case they need a duplicate?

UPDATE: My sister and I had a conference call with the DON and LTC administrator yesterday. I had sent them both a typewritten page of the things I observed while I was there from the dirty disheveled bathroom to the litter on my dad's floor to the staff issues and then on to the missing denture. The DON said they had only gone missing since last Thursday or Friday, she couldn’t remember which as no one made a note in his chart, and told staff to call one of us (we are co-POAs). Of course no one did. The LPN who told me it’d been two weeks was spoken with by the DON and she said she was mistaken. It was an hour conference call and I feel we got all our concerns across and addressed.
Here is what they "think" happened. There was a stomach virus going around so residents were eating out of styrofoam trays. Dad takes his dentures out often. They think he may have put them in a napkin on the tray and they got tossed. They said the aid looked everywhere for them. So we are assuming they are now in the landfill somewhere. Dad.s dementia will not permit him to withstand getting another set made. His were quite old and even when we had a new set made 2 years ago he refused to wear them to get used to them. Then when we had a temporary liner out in the upper for better fit, he ripped it out. So we are done with getting dentures re made. He will have to go without. As I said I was hoping he would die before his dentures got loss, but instead we are living the nightmare I envisioned. So the speech therapist will observe how he eats and diet modifications made based on her observations. Since this is not a Medicaid facility, they are likely not responsible for them. We are filing grievances for the fact that we were not notified and also for a medication refill error. Leadership comes from the top down and they need to up their game which my sister told them in a very professional way. (She’s an RN, geriatric nurse practitioner and a former administrator at the VNA). So there we are. The hard part will be hearing from dad over and over that he needs new dentures. Sigh.
some of your stories were funny and makes us all realize the trials we go through as caregivers. Thank you for responding!!

I wish I had an answer for you. This also happened to my Dad, in a different state, while in the nursing home. I finally figured that he was wrapping them up in his napkins and putting the napkin on the meal tray and once the tray is picked up it’s gone.
When the dentures first ended up missing I wasn’t told either. When I complained about it they showed me a lost and found box with many pair in it that had been found over the years.
I think we decided to change Dads diet and see how it went. At that point Dad wasn’t even sure of how to eat his food properly so he didn’t miss his teeth.

It isn’t easy what you are going through. I was caregiver for both my parents.
My only advice is to try and find humor when and where you can. Dad and I had many chuckles over the silliest little things, which sure helped get thru the aggravating times.

Before my mother was placed in the NH she stopped wearing her lower denture. She would only use the upper denture. Eventually in the NH she also did not want to wear the upper denture anymore as well. The NH dietician changed her diet to purée food, but she wouldn’t eat it. I asked the dietician to change her diet to semi-purée and my mother accepted the change.

My mother also lost her glasses a few times in the NH. The last time they were missing for two weeks, when I discovered that another resident was wearing them. I approached that woman and she said that she could not see out of those glasses. I explained that it was because the glasses were not hers, but belonged to my mother. She gave them back to me.

I guess what I am telling you is that unless you are there in the NH 24/7 there are situations beyond your control. NH aides are there
8-12 hours a day then go home. The next aide may not know your parent had dentures or glasses, or someone else took them, or your parent left them on the lunch tray, or threw them away.

My dad lost his hearing aid while in the hospital - what we went through to get it 'found' was a nightmare.

It had to have gotten caught up in his sheets - but we learned that people will sell them if they find them. Praise God, the place where he bought them would replace them one time for free. It was awful and we noticed it missing the same day it disappeared! It took a miracle for the person who "found it" to return it.

Good luck with the dentures. There is really no way for them to be marked with the person's name and it probably wouldn't have helped anyway. Praying for you.

Sorry for your nightmare, Same thing happened to us but it was the rehab nursing facility. They haven't been fitting for years (receding gums etc.). I tried to get her in to have them replaced many years earlier but she wouldn't give consent. The family wouldn't let a dime be spent without a song and dance, fiery hoops, and written proposal/request. They wouldn't release the funds. Because they were ill fitting she would take them out all the time, particularly after eating. So off in to the garbage they went with the food tray. The rehab facility was responsive to replacing them, but, it is a temporary stay facility. It took 6 months with the different fitting and lab delays. By the time she got the new set she was already accustomed to the pulverized food. Any attempt to change up her eating lead to swallowing issues. I wish I knew all of this in advance as I would have made the rehab pay for them (maybe not as the money would have went to the non caregivers and not her.)
Your situation is difficult. From experience...I would welcome the NH provide special textured meals and $$.

I am sorry you are dealing with this, but yes, dentures, eyeglasses, hearing aides are all virtually impossible to keep up with.  No matter what facility your family member is in, there is never going to be one aide per person to be with them 24 hours a day. And as you know, our elderly / sick family members don't have the where-with-all to keep up with those things.  On top of that, all of the patients in the facility, like your dad, are roaming around grabbing other peoples things and don't even realize it.  It is a cluster for sure.  Dentures, eyeglasses and hearing aides are very expensive and most of us can't afford to replace them.  In our situation, we just had to let it go and considered it part of the dementia process.  I know that sounds horrible, but there is no fix and it will literally drive you crazy if you let it.  Make sure they adjust his meals accordingly.  I'm sorry Harpcat.

His diet needs to be changed to a mechanical soft, this is where the meat is ground up so the resident doesn't have so much to chew. The staff is able to downgrade a resident's diet without a doctor's order but they must have a doctor's order to upgrade a diet (mechanical soft to regular.)

Federal regulations do require that a facility notify a family/legal representative any time there is a change with a resident, this would include losing dentures. I would question the DON/Administrator as to why this was not done.

Sad to say that this obviously happens frequently in nursing facilities for various reasons. I am fortunate that my mom will not take her teeth out for any reason other than cleaning, which doesn't happen often enough in my opinion, but that's a whole other story! Many of her friends who do take their teeth out after meals and at night have lost their teeth never to be found again. Mom's teeth are very old and she will not hear about getting new ones so it is not inconceivable that something could happen to them (break during cleaning?) and, like you, I dread that day. When she had her stroke she was on thickened liquid and purèd food for a time and often refused to eat or drink so it's a nightmare to think of that happening on a permanent basis.
I am also fortunate that mom does not need hearing aids as they are another item that frequently disappear along with glasses which my mom does wear and those have gone missing before and were found in with the laundry after a few days.
I wish I had answers for you, but as everyone says, it happens in all facilities and for various reasons....often not neglect. I visit often and also do inventory checks of mom's belongings frequently. If I see something missing I report it right away. In some cases the items reappear right away and in one instance it was months later and after I had replaced the item so she now has a spare!

Seems others have adequately covered the missing denture and reporting...

Meanwhile, your dad should be on a mechanical soft diet. This diet will not require him to chew his food. Does he have problems with swallowing: coughing a lot while eating, choking...? If so, get his doctor to prescribe a swallowing evaluation and the therapist can recommend a thickness for his diet, especially liquids.

Reading updates and thinking more about this, it still mostly comes down to the patient and their condition (mainly those with dementia - for other hospital/rehab stays, this shouldn't happen!) However, I still think it is irresponsible and inexcusable that notification isn't made right away (maybe not the instant they were gone, but one would think it would be noticed sooner than 2 weeks, and of course they say/change the scenario when taken to task!) and that meal modification wasn't started asap. An email was sent to me as soon as they found the hearing aid in the finished laundry (too late to save it!) and again when the replacement was MIA.

When dad was still living in the condo with mom, she was LIVID when he picked her hearing aid up off the table at breakfast and bit/broke it. Although never DXed, he likely had some form of dementia by then. The ironic part of that is years later she did the very same thing! Of course then it was just an accident, and it didn't get her riled up!

At some point later, still living in the condo, her hearing aid went missing. Some relatives visiting from Canada did a search and found it, but it was broken. The provider came right over and set her up with a new one. So, later when it was time for "the move", YB found one in the bed sheets. This meant there were TWO working hearing aids (she only used one.) I suspect the broken one that was "found" was the one she had bit/broken, but never threw it away! The provider came to the MC place and adjusted both so that she was wearing two. No idea what happened to one of them, and the second was the one that went through the laundry. The point is even living in her own place she managed to lose/break them - no staff involved!

As for accusing others, sure, there are those with dementia who "shop" other rooms and take things, but more often than not the person hides things or puts them away in a "safe" place, and then forgets where they left it. Once missing, they accuse others of stealing. Mom did this after OB visited - she accused them of stealing her tweezers. This was before I realized she was starting down the dementia path (retrospect meant some of the things she said/did could be vague early signs that are easily missed!) At the time I just asked her why they would steal something they could get easily for less than $2!?!? I picked up another for her so she would have one. When cleaning out her place, I found at least THREE tweezers in her MB BR AND about 6 more in a plastic cup in a dresser drawer!

All too often the hearing aid or dentures in a tissue/napkin at mealtime happens and no one notices, so it gets tossed. If being cared for at home, any one of these scenarios could happen to us or hired care-givers. Sad, but unfortunately true. I would have been happy if they would meet us halfway with the replacement (they came with loss warranty, $400 to replace one aid), mainly because when these were purchased, the task was placed on them to care for it (rechargeable and I was not about to trust mom with the charger!) Mom was at that time still mobile, would get around on her own and needed VERY little care other than being in a safe place and eating better. However she also would sometimes forget that she needs a hearing aid and all too often was taking it out. Now they are monitoring better and taking it away when she takes it out.

My dad suffered a GI upset and I suspect his upper dentures were thrown away when they cleaned him up. It was aggravating because he had just gone through 6-8 weeks of getting them relined and adjusted. The dentures went missing in early April and it wasn't until late July that he finally had them replaced and fitting properly. The nursing home paid for the replacement. Having the ability to chew is so important to better health. On the other hand, my mom wore a partial and when she became sick with pneumonia, the staff left them in place for an extended period of time leading to additional health problems. A checklist of important things like dentures and hearing aids posted by the bed would help the workers, but I was told that posting a simple reminder violated HIPPA. Ridiculous and harmful as it can take forever to replace these items.

A soft mechanical diet is what my LO is on at nursing home. She got a new set of dentures and with her dementia she refuses to wear them.
I'm fine with that, and she could care less.
Some things in my opinion aren’t worth getting too excited over.
Money down the drain is unfortunate.

My sympathies to you about the lost dentures. Please contact the DON (is there someone taking that role during the holidays?) and let us know what happens. Make heads spin.

Mom was briefly in a NH. One of the reasons she is home now is the lack of care and attention to her hearing aid. Without the aid, she is functionally deaf, and everything I read is lack of hearing makes dementia worse. She gets angry and aggressive when she can not hear. Like Harpcat, I went into the DON office and made heads spin.

The aid was found, but after that kept in a locked drawer only the nurse on duty had a key to. I had to ask permission to talk to Mom.

The attitude of "It happens" does not work for me. Patients/residents/clients deserve to have their possessions respected. Devices like hearing aids and dentures, etc. are important to keeping LOs as healthy as possible.

I happened to visit her while she was having lunch and quickly realized she could not hear me. Turned out the aid was not in her ear and nowhere to be seen. All the aides disappeared like bugs when I started asking about it. The nurse on the floor seemed indifferent.

Not only would I speak with the DON, I would speak with the administrator of the facility as well. You may want to speak with the social worker too. In regards to his diet, the dietician would be the best person to speak with about his needs. I was going to suggest if the the original molds / impressions for the dentures you may want to consider having the dentures made. However, I would push for the facility to be responsible for the cost. If though, you are certain he will not tolerate new dentures then I would forgo replacing them but having his diet adjusted accordingly. Even though the powers that be will not want to be responsible, they have to be held accountable financially no matter what you decide.