I am missing two molars on the bottom left of my mouth, and have a bridge on the right bottom side of my mouth. Well, one of the teeth holding up the bidge developed a very large cavity under the bone line and had to be removed. The bridge was cut to become a crown for the front tooth, leaving a two-tooth gap in the side (not really visible from the front unless I open my mouth really wide, but it made it so that I could no longer chew food on the right side, as I have long been unable to chew food on the left.
I now have a partial denture plate replacing those four teeth. It feels really weird.
When will I get used to it so that I don’t notice it every minute? Are there tricks I need to know? I realized quickly that I loosen it out of it’s little grip hooks if I press on the back of it too hard with my tongue, so I have to not do that. (Nervous habit, anyone?)
I was told to brush it with a toothbrush and toothpaste and soak it in water or water and mouthwash overnight while not wearing it, so I’ll do that, but is there anything else I need to know about keeping the thing?
I was not given any kind of restrictions on the types of food I could eat other than to say that for the first few days I should a) eat soft food b) not drink through a straw or do anything else that causes suction in my mouth (fear of dry socket) and c) I lied, there was no third requirement. Do you know of foods that should be avoided? Please don’t say caramel because my calcium supplements come in the form of caramel chews. Maybe I could chew them very carefully, or chew them when the plate is out for the night, or before it goes in in the morning.
Anyway, I guess my “general question” is a wide range of questions (preferably factual answers, and preferably from people with experience) and not so much opinions or chatter.
I had my lower partial dentures done approximately 4 years ago. I remember the awkwardness in the beginning very well!
First, do you have a low profile plate (metal base) or regular acrylic? I ask because I ordered the former but experienced the latter with my temporary plate. I am extremelly happy to have chosen the lower profile plate as it affected comfort in a big way. Quite a big difference in feel, much less bulky.
As far as when it will stop feeling wierd? I say definitely a few weeks if not months. In my case I would say it took a solid 6 months to fully get used to all aspects of having one and for it to stop feeling wierd.
The first 2 to 4 weeks are the hardest. You’re always conscious of it and playing around with trying to make everything feel right. During this time you will learn very fast how to chew your food, there is a huge difference. I too had few molars left and would chew on one side only, using both sides again wasn’t easy and I needed to force myself to not keep the same bad habits going.
I haven’t found any particular limitations in terms of things I can’t chew anymore. The only one I would say I actively avoid would be chewing gum. With my partial it’s just a mess if I don’t concentrate to keep the gum out of the hooks and bits. Otherwise meat can be a bit tough but nothing can keep me away from a good steak. Basically you need to take your time and relearn chewing different foods.
The most annoying thing to get used to I would say is food getting underneath your plate when chewing. At the beginning, it was absolutely maddening! With time you learn to deal with it. Usually a good rinse with water will do for temporary relief until you can get to a private area where you can take it out to rinse fully or clean.
The wierdness will go away slowly and one day you’ll notice you aren’t thinking about it anymore and it will be your new normal.
Do you wear your plate at night? At first I didn’t. I couldn’t stand to feel the extra bulk in my mouth to sleep. In fact, whenever I was home I would take it out for comfort. This resulted in many funny goofs (my partial replaces 3 molars and my 2 front teeth, bottom). Many times I would run out for errands or be in a rush in the morning and forget to put in my teeth… This was especially embarrassing as I would only notice when attempting to talk and revealing my missing front teeth to whomever I was speaking to… At least a couple of occasions I made it all the way to work and only noticed I forgot them then… Needless to say, once the initial wierdness wore off, I took to wearing them at night as well.
In terms of cleaning, I prefer brushing them than soaking.
I’m supposed to brush and soak them overnight, rather than wearing them. Fortunately if I take it out you can’t really tell the difference unless I open my mouth really wide or make a really strange face. I’ve noticed that food seems to want to go under the plate, and that’s annoying. The base seems to be acrylic. Not sure what the difference is.
Right now my main problem is pain from the tooth they had to extract. They prescribed me a grand total of 6 Vicodin, which I’ll have to dole out carefully. I can’t take ibuprofen because of the extensive stomach surgery I’ve had, so I’m kind of SOL in terms of OTC pain relief. If I absolutely need to I’ll call them and beg for some Tramodol, which seems to work pretty well and isn’t habit forming.
When I eat it feels like the plate is moving around. Is that normal? It hasn’t actually popped loose yet, but it feels like it’s wiggling around some. I don’t know if it’s supposed to or if I need to go get it adjusted.
I presume that since you have recently had extractions that your current plate is a temporary one. It is normal that a temporary plate be of looser fit to allow more comfort for the healing gums underneath.
I’m trying to remember how long before they took another mould of my teeth (after the extractions had healed) in order to prepare my permanent plate. At least 3-4 weeks if it wasn’t a couple months after.
If you are experiencing significant pain after you are out of vicodin (2 days+ post extraction), I would check with the dentist. You shouldn’t be experiencing much pain after a couple days, a bit of soreness maybe.
In regards to the lower profile metal based plates, see this link for an example (2nd pic down) http://www.vivianbaedds.com/services/dentures/ the metal replaces the acrylic in places where it allows much less bulk than the acrylic sets. Mainly near the front teeth and under the tongue. Personally, I found to be a remarkable difference between the two.
I’d be pretty impressed that the partial you have now is your permanent plate. In my area, a temporary is always prepared to be installed immediately after the extractions but isn’t permanent as the gums will change dimensions when healing. Only after a specific amount of time is the mould for the permanent plate taken to allow for this discrepancy and get a true proper fit. I would definitely inquire to your denturologist about this.
Regarding food getting under the plate. Unfortunately, this is something you will have to get used to as it won’t completely stop… Your permanent plate should be better fitted to avoid it but it will still happen.
My permanent plate is well fitted but I asked to have it made not too tight. This way, I am able to lift it out with my tongue and either flick whatever is there out with my tongue or swish it out with water. It sounds really wierd but after a bit of practice I was soon able to do this very quickly and without it being apparent to others around me.
They have never told me that this is a temporary plate. They never scheduled me for any follow-up appointments or anything, either. And it’s just my regular dentist who did it, not a denture specialist.
Update! I was developing a sore on my tongue in a few places and the denture kept moving around on the left side, so I went in this morning for an adjustment. They also ground off a bone spur that was poking at the outside of my gums over where they pulled the tooth. They used the grinder right through my gums! :eek: I’m still numb but a little worried about how much that is going to hurt when this wears off. It already hurt quite a bit just from the bone spur poking at my gums (I could feel it even through my cheek).
Anyway, they tightened the clips and added more of the pink goop that hardens into the “gums” of the denture and it fits SO much better now. No wiggling at all. It’s harder to take out and put back in, but I’m willing to put up with that for what I got in return.
To answer your question: yes, this is a metal based plate, and yes this is the permanent plate.
I’m getting used to wearing it, slowly, but one thing that I have to be careful of is that I keep biting the inside of my left cheek, because it’s been 10 years since I had bottom molars on that side, so I’m not used to it. So far it’s been minor (no bleeding, no sores developing from the bites) and hopefully I won’t totally chomp a hole in my cheek before I get used to having teeth there again.
One thing I’ve made a habit of is going into the bathroom and rinsing off the denture plate and rinsing out my mouth (sans plate) after eating, because food gets stuck under them. I wonder if that will be less of a problem now that it fits better? Denture wearers, what is your experience? Do you get food stuck under them?
I have had my partial dental plate for about two months. It has three teeth in the middle and open loops (which go around the real teeth at either end. It has no hooks. When it was first made at the dentists and inserted by the dentist the teeth were too proud. I wore it for 3 days and went back to the dentist who ground the teeth down (using the articulated paper method of finding the high spots).
When I first insert it, it is very uncomfortable and feels it is like burning. However I find that chewing bread pushes the denture down to its correct level. I then spit the bread out and the denture feels much, much more comfortable. After soft food has been eaten in a complete meal then it is fine and does not have any overbearing pain. I can now chew my food correctly, which I have not been able to do for years.
I have only been able to eat on the left side of the mouth for about ten years. I used to eat like a dog, tearing the food off and swollowing chunks.
I can eat anything now and chew it
The golden rules of partial denture using is:
Think small and only chew small quantities at a time and then swallow.
Try and get the food in the middle of the denture.
Do not try to chew anything that has sticky qualities or does not come apart easily.
Cut off fat, as this will be like elastic and will get under the plate and dislodge it.
Do not be too quick when eating cakes, as this will cause a build up under the plate and dislodge it.
Rinse your mouth out frequently with warm water and do the same before taking out the plate.
I hope this is helpful to a new owner of a partial denture.
