Does food ever creep under the dentures?
Good to know - my dentist said sleeping with them initially was encouraged to help get used to them. I sometimes feel uncomfortable sleeping without them since there is nowhere to “rest” my jaw. I’ll bring this up next time I see my dentist.
I don’t have the upper pallet anymore, I only had that when I had my temporaries. But when I did I noticed a LITTLE loss of taste of some foods. Smokiness didn’t taste the same and I have no idea why. I actually had my temp relined - I had my temp for a while - it was cheap and helped a lot!
Sometimes, but usually I will just excuse myself after a meal, take a leak, and then wash them after washing my hands. It literally only takes a moment. Nothing ever sneaks up there so big that it is painful, though.
The only caveat to that is berries - the seeds get up there sometimes and lord almighty it feels like an army of ants crawling under there.
Yes always check with your own professional. I tell my patients that if sleeping with them in feels better then do it but leave them out for 3-4 hours prior to bed or some other time during the day. Leaving them out takes pressure off the tissues so helps with sore spots, inflamation and yeast infections.
For various reasons I had terrible teeth. Despite going to the dentist regularly, at 40 I needed to make a decision whether to continue going to the dentist and (expensively and painfully) patching things up every few months or go for dentures. Not having insurance, implants were out of the question. We are each different, as is our experience and outcome, but for me it was the best decision. I never have had to wear denture adhesive–my dentures are a great fit. I don’t wear them at night. I have had the same pair for 20 years without a problem. I have them checked every couple of years and the dentist says “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
I remember the questions I had at the time of the decision. I have friends who have had terrible experiences with prosthodontists and dentures. I just want to give the other side – a good experience all around with only one concern. I was single, not in a relationship. I WAS embarrassed to be wearing dentures in intimate situations and avoided them for a while. My facial structure changes drastically without dentures/teeth. I had to bolster my ego to take the plunge but now wearing dentures in all situations is just part of who I am.
Anyone considering dentures needs to read and be prepared for the full spectrum of outcomes before making a decision.
I have had full dentures for over 35 years. At night I put in a spare upper denture so my speech is still normal, and it just looks better somehow. Only my wife sees me at night but I still think it’s better for her to see me looking and sounding “normal” at bedtime. Also if the phone rings I don’t talk mumbly, if you know what I mean. I soak my day dentures overnight and my night ones during the day.
I am 31. I neglected my teeth for years as I always thought that in the end that I would have them all out. That happened a little over two years ago and so I have being wearing full dentures ever since.
There are positives and negatives to dentures. First the positives, they look great far better than your natural teeth ever looked. I am also free from any pain and discomfort. Dentures are easy to maintain. I had mine rebased after six months and haven’t been back to the dentist since.
There is no doubt they are a challenge to get accustomed to while your gums are healing. After that it is much easier. However, it is a profound change. We express ourselves through our mouths, by speech and expression and we eat using our mouths. All this has to happen while your tongues and lips are keeping your dentures in place, particularly your lower denture. You cannot change inert pieces of plastic so all the changes come from you: how your mouth moves.
The most difficult aspect I found was eating with my dentures. At first it was hopeless. After a while you modify your expectations and work within what your dentures are capable of. There are certain hard and sticky foods and foods which work themselves under my plates I avoid. I am much more dependent on a knife and fork and find biting with my front teeth problematic. Obviously the appreciation of texture and temperature are dimished. Taste is fine but I know I spice things up more.
For all that, I am happier where I am than where I was before I had dentures. It is just that it requires you to accept all sorts of changes.
Hi I am new here as I am might be on my way to having full upper and maybe a partial lower I was looking for advice I am in the UK and I have a few issues in my head that I hope you can help with
First is I have always had a really bad gag reflex I had 4 of my uppers out over the last 3 years and the partial I was given by the nhs dentist well its palette just made me gag big time and his advice was I don’t care if you don’t wear it as you can imagine this worries me big time when it comes to dentures
also I am 36 next month and unmarried not even dating right now and my self confidence is not the best at all for reasons other than my teeth and there is a massive part of my mind that just keeps thinking this means my life is over and everyone will know you have them and the things like that
Since I’m up this a.m. and AnthonyElite hasn’t answered yet…
The only time I experienced the gag reflex was when the dentist was making an impression of my gum line with that goopy stuff. After I got my dentures, at first the plastic palate felt thick and as I said above, like I had a wad of gum stuck to the roof of my mouth. But that gradually went away and now I don’t even notice it.
At first I got a partial for my lower teeth but since my biggest problem was weak tooth enamel, the “connecting” wires soon wore through my real teeth causing a lot of pain and trouble chewing. Within a year I had the remaining teeth pulled and got a full set of lowers.
The relief from toothaches and recurring abscesses was incredibly wonderful. I think I would have got them even if they only came in day-glo blue. But because they look so real my confidence grew in leaps and bounds. Before, I always covered my mouth when I smiled or laughed and sometimes didn’t speak even when I wanted to say something because I was ashamed of my teeth. Having decent teeth made me feel like I blended in.
The dentist should show you a chart of tooth color to choose from. The brightest/whitest isn’t for everybody, but the next-to-whitest looks perfectly normal and why shouldn’t you look good?
When I was dating I didn’t mention my dentures (even before kisses) but if things got more serious I did bring it up. I didn’t want somebody to French kiss me and then draw back with a puzzled look on his face. 
And if that turned him off, good to know—you know? If my health and well-being meant less to him than my not being “perfect”, well…I didn’t want that kind of person in my life anyway. Anybody who cares about you will be glad for you. And strangers won’t even notice.
Thanks for the reply its good to find a place like this where I can get advice as doing net searches for help just got me more and more worked up I even found one guy saying on one of those yahoo question sites that he would rather kill himself then have them and other horror stories
I dont know if there is anyone else here from the UK but can anyone help me with cost I lost my job a while back and was on benefits so I got free nhs treatment the only problem because I did not want to live on the state I took a lower paying job and get tax credits to make it up but now I dont get free nhs and I only earn £200 a month
I have looked into payment plans and my old nhs dentist has one but with my teeth being bad already it says it would not cover me so can anyone help me out with how much it would cost also loans are out of the questions as I have so much other debt I cannot even get a new one
As far as casual (not intimate) people realizing you have dentures…it probably won’t happen. I’m a nurse, and my patients are generally elderly, so I see a lot of dentures…but I can rarely tell without getting a light up in their wide open mouth. The biggest give away is that, in my patient population, almost no one has very good teeth, so if I see a full set of teeth with none broken when they smile, I have a good idea that they might have dentures…but that’s not a worry until you are in your 70’s. And if it bothers you then, it’s perfectly possible to break off a tooth from a set of dentures, if you’re determined to make it look “natural”! 
(My husband lost a tooth off his top plate, and hasn’t yet had it replaced. To be honest, I kind of like it - he was missing that tooth, and others, when I met him, so it looks right for him.)
Interestingly enough my mother, who also wore dentures, had one eyetooth slightly turned so they’d look even more natural with the imperfection.
Sad to say, you might have to accidently lose your job in order to get the dentures you need. To anyone who says, “That’s playing the system!” I say Then you pay for it.
Us poor folk can’t; we’re barely surviving and we need help.
Yea I understand what you mean its crazy I earn 200 a month and I asked if I could get a tax credit certificate for free treatment but they said I earn to much for that but I earned 200 more a month on benefits this government idea of making work pay better than benefits really worked for me
I do have one option but that could take 4 or 5 months and not sure that is a good idea as I am having to take Co-Codamol tablets daily right now
Interested in what that option is, IF you want to broadcast it all over the internet. And are those tablets codeine? If so, I’m sorry you’re in so much pain.
the tablets you need a prescription from your doctor for them they have paracetamol and codeine phosphate in them
the cash idea is really get in more debt I can pay off one debt I have to a door step lender over the next 2 months and they will give me a new loan around £1000 it just means the only problem is all my cash will have to go to pay off that debt so for 2 months I will have zero cash
So…unless you have people who will carry you during this time, how will you survive? I’ve gone a week without eating before but I’m pretty sure two months will kill you. Will you still have a place to stay? Access to food pantries? (I just deleted a sentence about “saving” fist bump we know that ain’t happening. How could it?)
well I could get in as much frozen food as I can as for rent that would have to go unpaid for a few months but as I said not a good plan
btw just a question I wonder about if I had the cash can you get a full set of single tooth implants rather than dentures and if yes would they be stronger I know you can get implanted dentures
From what I understand implants are very expensive. Whether they’re better or not I don’t know, but sometime on the board there was a discussion about them. Maybe somebody will post their experience.
you could but probably wouldn’t. More likely you would get several implants to support a fixed bridge v. single crowns.
its not something I would ever think about doing well maybe if I won the lottery if it was possible