Having to wear dentures is preventable if from early on we practice good dental hygiene. But sometimes even with the best of dental care tooth loss can happen. With all the effort to save your natural teeth, the dentist sometimes has no choice but to extract a tooth. In such a situation you have to opt for dentures.
What are dentures?
Dentures are made to resemble your original teeth which will enhance your appearance when a number of teeth are missing in your mouth.
Dentures are a removable replacement for your original teeth which are missing for whatever reason. When all of your teeth are missing, you wear complete dentures. You wear partial dentures, when some of your teeth are missing, while some still remain.
Complete dentures are sometimes immediate and most of the times conventional. The dentist orders conventional dentures when all the extractions that are necessary have taken place, and gums and tissues have healed. Immediate dentures are made in advance, and are worn immediately after the teeth are extracted.
Partial dentures are a replacement for missing teeth and worn to stop the neighbouring teeth from shifting and moving away. They are made of natural coloured plastic base attached to a metal framework to secure it in place.
Why are dentures needed?
We use our teeth all the time – for chewing and digesting and also for proper speech and correct pronunciation. Our teeth are used constantly and witness a lot of wear and tear. It requires a lot of care and maintenance. Without maintenance, the teeth start giving us trouble and our normal lives are disrupted.
Teeth loss can lead to unsatisfactory food intake and difficulty in speaking. In addition to helping us enjoy our food, our teeth also help us looking beautiful. Teeth are a support to our bone structures without which the bone and jaws would recede inside, giving our face a limp look. To offset these difficulties in the absence of teeth, people need to wear dentures which are made to order to fit each individual.
How to get used to wearing dentures?
Starting to wear an outside thing in your mouth will take a little while to be accepted by the mouth. The mouth may have had a few weeks to a few months without teeth. Suddenly there is this apparatus which makes you feel very strange.
A very big issue with new denture wearing people is how to eat food, especially in company. Getting used to the feeling of teeth and supports against the gums is absolutely new, and it will take some time for the tongue and other muscles to get used to this new feeling. Like everything else in life, it takes practice to use the dentures for biting and chewing food.
- A simple tip about getting used to the new dentures is to eat tiny amount of food in the beginning. Break your food in smaller pieces than normal to chew it properly.
- Another simple thing to follow is to start with softer foods. Softer foods will exert smaller pressure on the dentures while you are getting used to the idea of having an apparatus in the mouth. Harder foods may cause irritation in the mouth till you get used to your new dentures.
- One of the key factors about getting the hang of eating food with new dentures is to see to it that they fit properly. If a little loose, or a little tight, than it will make you very conscious while eating in public. They should fit snugly on the gums, without any discomfort. It would be nice to do a lot of practice with a variety of foods at home before eating out in public. While eating at home, if you feel that your dentures slip, call your dentists office and get them fixed.
- Similar to eating, speaking while wearing dentures is also a worry. And like eating in public with dentures, speaking also requires practice. One useful tip is to read a book aloud at home till you are satisfied that you can pronounce all the words properly and correctly. It will give you an idea about how your dentures feel while talking aloud.
- It is important to follow your dentist’s instructions when you begin to wear dentures. You must wear them for as long as you are required to wear them. If you wear them for longer than your dentist asked you to, you may run a risk of developing sores that can escalate into serious infections, and it may make you take longer than required . So remember to listen to your dentist’s advice.
- Many people find that their dentures slip while chewing. It may need to be tightened to fit on your gums snugly. Get them fixed.
- For many people, the dentures bring on pain and sores in the mouth. It may mean that they need to be loosened a little bit. This also needs to be taken care of by your dentist.
- Many people feel as if their teeth are protruding after wearing the dentures. Or they feel their teeth are large. This is common, because our brain responds like this whenever a new foreign body is discovered by the brain in any part of the body. This feeling will go away after you get used to your new dentures. When this feeling persist even after a few days, you may need an adjustment.
- You may feel increased saliva in your mouth initially after wearing dentures. The body will get used to it after a few days and salivation will become normal soon.
Adjusting to dentures will take some time and you need to have patience for the same. With a few simple tricks and tips, you can get used to wearing dentures as long as needed. Once you get comfortable wearing dentures, you will find it easy to chew, and enjoy food, and also will have no fear while talking to people.