Hi Andy,

Loosing teeth shouldn't affect your ability to swallow, you just need to be careful with firmer foods as they may be tricky to chew into smaller pieces. My ex bf, who lost most of his teeth, could eat well, he just struggled with corn on the cob, tough meats, nuts etc
It might be worth eating soups, mashed vegetables ( with lots of butter and some cream), steamed fish etc for now, just to get used to your new mouth. I don't have a tongue but have some more teeth, but yesterday I managed to have a slice of very buttery toast to go with my soup. I dunked a small slice of toast in the soup, bit that piece off, chewed it and moved it to my teeth with my finger (and to check that it was mushed up) and then had some more soup to swallow it down. I couldn't have done that 4 months ago. It all takes time and experimentation.

Tastebuds returning varies from person to person. I could taste some strong foods (cheese, coffee, lemon, orange and chocolate) 2 weeks finishing RT, the rest are slowly returning over 9 months later. Some people's buds return quicker, some slower, some not at all.

Good luck on your food exploration