My various dentists through the years have been trying to get me to get partial appliances. My (inexperienced) instinct on looking at photos of partials online is that they take up a lot of room inside your mouth…those bars that hold the false teeth look pretty thick. So I’ve been resisting, thinking that perhaps it would be less of a bother to just get everything extracted and getting full plates.
So, Dopers with partials, how do they actually feel in your mouth. Is your tongue constantly fighting for space? Are you always aware of them? Do they feel like you have something large stuffed in there?
I have a partial upper plate. I also hate dentists and have a well-developed gag reflex.
For the first few days, it was a hassle getting the damned thing in and out. After a week, I had to go back and get a small adjustment made (it was rubbing the roof of my mouth, which was sore).
Once the sore spot had healed up, I barely noticed the plate. After a month, I had to check (eitherby looking in a mirror or running my tongue across the teeth) whether I was wearing it. Also, after a couple of weeks I could take it out and put it in without concentrating, which is good first thing in a morning.
So my personal experience over the last two years is that the partial plate is very easy to live with.
I’ve only had mine for a bit, and I’ve got tops and bottoms. I’m having a devil of a time getting them adjusted to work together. If I only wear the upper (vanity!) it’s not uncomfortable, but I certainly know it’s there. I take it out on my way home from work, like uncomfortable shoes. And it makes me lisp…just a little and it’s getting better.
Not sure if this is what you’re looking into, but I had a flipper, which is kind of like this retainer but instead of the retainer part, there’s a tooth there. I hated the damn thing, eventually went to a maryland bridge (tooth with tabs glued to the adjacent teeth) for a few years before that kept falling off, and now I have an implant. Details here: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5138392&postcount=12
I have an upper partial. The only time I really notice mine is when I eat really chewing stuff like caramels or something gets underneath it. I avoid poppy seeds to prevent the second problem.